Wittnauer Professional Chronograph, 1960s

Dealer description — Analog/Shift

During the 1930s and 1940s, chronographs were an essential piece of kit for military aviators. But after the war, the chronograph saw use in a new arena: sports. The flieger chronographs with their stark black dials metamorphosed, oftentimes retaining the black dials, but taking on bright colors to signify their new use. In the 1960s the fashion was for sporty chronographs with large, sturdy steel cases. The Omega Speedmaster is deemed by collectors to be the quintessential chrono of the period, thanks to its use throughout the decades by NASA in all manned space missions. Its design was groundbreaking: where in pervious chronographs the telemeter and tachymeter scales were on the chapter ring of the dial, giving it a cluttered look, Omega broke from tradition by placing the tachymeter on the bezel. As the 1960s progressed, many brands from Rolex to Zodiac released their own version of the versatile complication, capitalizing on the Speedmaster’s success. Many of these, such as the Rolex Daytona or the Yachting Timer by Breitling, had an external bezel similar in design to the Speedmaster. They capture the spirit of 1960s design with a flair that’s entirely unique to each, despite their similarities. Wittnauer is a name that’s coming to the forefront in vintage collecting circles. Established in New York in 1885, Wittnauer saw most of its history as a distributor for Longines. In the 1950s Wittnauer was finally bought by Longines, and that’s when the brand really enjoyed its heyday. In the mid-1960s, when NASA was looking for a chronograph to qualify for the Apollo missions, Wittnauer was one of the few that saw contention. Though the chronograph that Wittnauer submitted didn’t make the final selection (that honor of course went to the Speedy), the consideration by NASA emboldened Wittnauer to release a line of “Professional” chronographs. This watch, the Reference 7004A, is one of these. Dating from the 1960s, this Reference 7004A Chronograph was marketed by Longines-Wittnauer as a professional-grade timepiece and fitted with the redoubtable Landeron 248 manual winding movement. The matte black dial features twin subsidiary registers (sweep seconds at 9:00, and a 30 Minute Counter at 3:00 with the 5 minutes countdown in red). The rotating outer bezel has aged over the years to a lovely cherry-red hue.