Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Precimax Aquamax Super Compressor, 1960s
- Maker / attribution
- Precimax (maker)
- Date
- 1960s
- Historical period
- Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 36 mm
- Stock no.
- Product 1400446484567
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (product 1400446484567)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Precimax Aquamax Super Compressor (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number Product 1400446484567), this is a wristwatch by Precimax, dated 1960s. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 36 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 — Analog/Shift
Why We Love It Combine a jet black gloss dial, a healthy dollop of luminous paint, 'Broad Arrow' style hands, an inner rotating timing bezel, twin hatched crowns, and a wildly cool brand and model name - PRECIMAX! AQUAMAX! - and you're certain to have a winning timepiece. This lovely Super Compressor dates to the 1960s, and features all of that and more, packaged in a svelte 36mm case with high dome acrylic crystal with date magnifier. The Story Super Compressor diving watches are a category unto themselves, and many of the best Swiss brands sold their own variants of the distinctive dual crown watches that have been one of the most popular types of collectable dive watches for years. The Super Compressor name refers to the innovative case design, which utilizes a "compressor" system designed to become more watertight the deeper that the watch travels under water. As atmospheric pressure increases along with depth, the case back is compressed inwards, pushing on the gaskets and creating a tighter seal to protect the internals. The compressor case didn't turn out to be any better at preventing water intrusion than other 1960s innovations (such as screw-down crowns), but due to their good looks, compressor cases proved to be popular amongst consumers. Eager to get into the burgeoning dive watch market, many of the best Swiss brands turned to EPSA (Ervin Piquerez, S.A.), the leading manufacturer of compressor cases at the time, for cases to build their divers around.
Historical context
Modern Mechanical Horology (1945 – 1969)
Tool watches for divers, pilots and astronauts; electric watches anticipate the electronic age.
The classic era of the mechanical wristwatch: dive watches, chronographs for motor racing and space flight, GMT watches for jet travel, slim dress watches, automatic calendars, and the rise of Japanese manufacturers alongside Swiss, American, German and Soviet industries.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking
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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