Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Zenith Oversize Dress Watch Two-Tone Dial 1940s
- Maker / attribution
- Unrecorded in source
- Date
- 1940s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Unrecorded in source
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Materials / technique
- two-tone
- Dimensions
- Case 37.5 mm
- Stock no.
- W-1162
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, Bulang & Sons (W-1162)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Zenith Oversize Dress Watch Two-Tone Dial 1940s (English)
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Record summary
Catalogued by Bulang & Sons (dealer), Copenhagen (stock number W-1162), this is a wristwatch, dated 1940s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Materials and techniques recorded by the source: two-tone. Recorded dimensions: Case 37.5 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 — Bulang & Sons
No lume with painted arabics… The oversize steel dress watches have always been something of a signature here at Bulang and Sons. You guys always seem to love them and so we are delighted to offer another beautiful example, this time by Zenith! The 37.5mm steel case has a snap caseback and dates to the 1940s. You have to remember that at the time, this would have been a huge watch! The two-tone dial has painted Arabic hour markers and a small seconds subdial. The hands are blued steel and in outstanding condition. The case has some kind of import stamp on the lower right lug. The watch is fitted with the pictured Bulang and Sons strap that has the original Zenith buckle on it. The watch houses a manual-wind movement calibre 12-4-P that has been fully checked and regulated by our watchmaker. Specifications : - Zenith Dress watch - Dates to late 1940s - Large 37.5mm stainless steel case with snap back - Case serial 844xxxx - Two tone dial with painted Arabic hours - Manual wind movement Cal 12-4-P serial 349xxx - Includes Bulang and Sons strap with original Zenith buckle - Fully checked by our watchmaker - Includes a handmade leather watch pouch
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
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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