
Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Movado Super Sub Sea 300, Cushion Case, Orange Dial, Bakelite Bezel, circa 1971
- Maker / attribution
- Movado (maker)
- Date
- c. 1971
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 41 mm
- Stock no.
- vws3160
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Vintage Watch Specialist (vws3160)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Movado Super Sub Sea 300 - Cushion Case - Orange Dial - Bakelite Bezel - c.1971 (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Vintage Watch Specialist (dealer), United Kingdom (stock number vws3160), this is a wristwatch by Movado, made in Switzerland, dated c. 1971. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 41 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 — Vintage Watch Specialist
Movado Super Sub Sea 300 with a Rare Orange Dial with Very Cool Patina, 41mm Cushion Case in Stainless Steel. c.1971 Achilles Ditesheim, a 19-year-old entrepreneur, hires six watchmakers and opens a small workshop in the village of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. In 1905, Ditesheim renames his young company Movado – a word meaning “always in motion” in the artificial, international language of Esperanto. What’s On Offer The Movado Super Sub Sea was a line released in the early 1960s that was made up both of regular divers and of chronograph dive watches. The line evolved in the latter half of the 1960s after the merger of Zenith and Movado and the creation of the Mondia-Zenith- Movado group in 1969. Opening the watch reveals a Zenith cal. 2552PC, a 23-jewel movement with a beat rate of 21,600bph. The Super Sea is a meaty watch on the wrist with its over-sized cushion case offering substantial proportions (42mm wide) yet it remains light and comfortable. The originally deep orange dial had faded nicely and almost has a neon acid tie dye effect which looks really cool - and of course nobody in the world will have one exactly the same, oh the joy of vintage watches! The watch does have signs of wear, there is some deterioration of the paint on the dial and the bezel has some blemishes, however, these are not unusual when one considers the age of the piece and its intended use - it is a tool watch after all. It does however benefit from a very recent service and a new replacement glass, so it is looking well! The bracelet is original to the watch which is very rare to find, it is signed by the renowned Gay Frères which was founded in 1835 in Geneva by Jean-Pierre Gay and Gaspard Tissot . They specialised in making chains both for pocket watches and jewellery and over the years gained a reputation for both the quality of their work and reliability of their service.
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
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.
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