Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Sandoz Redfish, c. 1970s
- Maker / attribution
- Sandoz (maker)
- Date
- c. 1970s
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 42 mm
- Stock no.
- 40991403
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Analog/Shift (40991403)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Sandoz Redfish (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by Analog/Shift (dealer), New York (stock number 40991403), this is a wristwatch by Sandoz, dated c. 1970s. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 42 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
We’ll be damned if the 1970s didn’t produce some of the funkiest watch designs of any time in history. From colorful divers to bullhead chronographs, from complicated masterworks to oddball dress watches, the ‘70s was by far the grooviest horological decade of them all. Sandoz, a company that took numerous forms as its founder, Henri Frédéric Sandoz, merged his business with the Schwob family, was no stranger to these extra-funky trends, as is evidenced by the Monsoon that we’re happy to offer here. While it’s not quite a dive watch, it’s also not quite…anything else that’s readily categorizable. It’s just cool as hell! Coming in with a 42mm stainless steel cushion case, an acrylic crystal, and a bidirectional rotating timing bezel, this piece dates to circa the 1970s and features a beautiful, gradient red Tritium dial with applied steel indices, a day/date window at 3 o'clock, and a matching 'cigarette' handset. Powered by an automatic winding movement and paired to a funky, brown leather strap with a steel pin buckle, the Redfish is simply a tremendously cool everyday watch that screams confidence and joie de vivre . Watches such as this one are fun and wonderful timepieces, and there's no telling if and when one of these in any condition, let alone excellent condition such as this example, will surface again. So don't wait!
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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