Skip to content
Movado Breguet & Glossy Black Dial — view 1 of 6
View 1 of 6 · Image: Collectors Corner NY · original image source (opens another website in a new tab)

Wristwatches · Wristwatch

Movado Breguet & Glossy Black Dial

DocumentedDocumented from a dealer's listing; attribution and date as stated by the dealer.
Maker / attribution
Movado (maker)
Date
c. 1930s
Country of origin
Switzerland
Object type
Wristwatch
Dimensions
Case 31.5 mm
Stock no.
Product 9979247198484
Credit line
Dealer listing, Collectors Corner NY (product 9979247198484)
Catalogue title (original)
Movado Breguet & Glossy Black Dial (1930s) - Extremely Rare (English)

View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction

Record summary

Catalogued by Collectors Corner NY (dealer), New York (stock number Product 9979247198484), this is a wristwatch by Movado, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1930s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 31.5 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.

Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.

Catalogue description

Dealer description — Collectors Corner NY

On offer is an exceedingly rare Movado, circa 1930s in steel. It houses a very seldom seen glossy black dial with Breguet numerals and gilt sword hands. It has a 31.5mm case that wears with a very similar wrist presence to the iconic Patek Philippe ref. 96. This piece has remained in very nice vintage condition, especially considering its age. The case still has sharp lines and retains some of its factory brushing and the dial has not been restored. It's powered by the famous manual winding cal. 75. For anyone looking for a very special Breguet numeral dress watch without breaking the bank, this nearly 100 year old timepiece is a remarkable find among vintage Movado watches .

Historical context

Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)

The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.

The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.

Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution

Atlas type guide

Wristwatches

Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.

After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.

What to look for

  • The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
  • The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
  • Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
  • Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.

Dating clues

  • Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
  • Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
  • Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.

General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.

Read next:Detached lever escapementIdentification Centre

Related records