Movado M95 Chronograph ref. 19038, 'Sub Sea' Satin Silver Dial

Dealer description — Oliver & Clarke

While it may be hard to imagine based upon their product line today, Movado Factories (yes, that was the full name) once made watches that were beautifully designed, exceptionally-well made, and respected on a level that matched the very best manufacturers. The piece that we have here, an M95 Chronograph, is simply named after the Movado Manufacture M95 movement powering it. Over the years, these were produced with a variety of dial and case configurations, with this example having been produced on the later end dating to circa the early 1960s. The 35mm 'waterproof' case shares a similar design and in fact, the same case-maker as properly heavy hitting references from this era. That is, of course, François Borgel. It features gorgeous 'stepped' finishing on the top case, with dynamic, faceted lugs, a screw-down caseback, 'pump' pushers, and a 'domed' crown. The condition of this example is excellent, with strong factory finishing present throughout and the correct crown and pushers. Inside, the dial is one of the more 'sporty' variants, with a satin silver color throughout, applied Tritium-filled 'dart' indices, and a matching handset with red chronograph hands. Additionally, a very thoughtful and almost funny detail often found on Movado chronographs is how Movado chose to actually apply 'cropped' numerals around subsidiary registers where appropriate, in this case, at the 3, 6, & 9 o'clock positions. This detail is a great example of Movado exercising their prowess in design and manufacturing during this time and is an incredibly thoughtful detail that they easily could have skipped and nobody would have thought twice about it. Of course, this piece is powered by Movado's fantastic in-house Calibre M95 manually-wound movement. Both M95s and M90s have become extremely coveted by collectors and don't come to market as often as you may think... This piece, in its well-rounded and honest overall condition, is yet another example of the amazing value that Movado from this era offers. In our opinion, and we know there are a handful of other dealers and enthusiasts out there that share this viewpoint, there are not many brands that get design this right. Simple as that.