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Wrist Watch Movement - Timex, Electric, Germany, c. 1964 — view 1 of 1
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Wristwatches · Wrist watch movement

Wrist Watch Movement - Timex, Electric, Germany, c. 1964

DocumentedDocumented from the holding institution's catalogue record.
Maker / attribution
Unrecorded in source
Date
c. 1964
Country of origin
Germany
Object type
Wrist watch movement
Dimensions
3 cm (Outside Diameter)
Holding institution
Museums Victoria, Melbourne
Accession / object no.
ST 25571
Catalogue title (original)
Wrist Watch Movement - Timex, Electric, Germany, circa 1964 (English)

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Record summary

Held and catalogued by Museums Victoria, Melbourne (object number ST 25571), this is a wrist watch movement, made in Germany, dated c. 1964. The Atlas places it in the Modern Mechanical Horology period (1945 – 1969) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: 3 cm (Outside Diameter). The record is illustrated with 1 photograph.

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

Summary — Museums Victoria

Gents electric wrist watch movement mounted in Perspex panel, Times, West Germany, circa 1964.

Physical description — Museums Victoria

Electric movement mounted in perspex panel.

Inscriptions & marks

Movement marked 'Timex', 'West Germany', 'D', '861' and '11 Jewels'. Perspex panel marked 'Timex'.

Provenance

Donation from Ponsford, Newman & Benson, Jul 1964

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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