# J. Chevalier Prestige Automatic



## wotsch (Jan 5, 2011)

Hello,

I'd like to show you my first automatic mechanical watch - a J. Chevalier Prestige. I bought the watch in Berlin in February 2002. At that time, I didn't really know very much about watches, just that I wanted a mechanical one, preferably an automatic, and the luxury brands were way out of reach financially. After looking around for quite some time, I finally found something affordable, good-looking and of a good grade.

For my tastes, the watch still has a simple, elegant appearance:



















The watch has a diameter of 38mm and is approx. 10mm thick. Its movement is the classic ETA 2824-2, running at 28800 bph with a 40 hour power reserve. This movement is the simplest variant without much in the way of decoration:










The watch runs well, with around +5s per day measured over 2 days.

The brand "J. Chevalier" doesn't seem to have been around for very long and I don't know if the brand was ever available outside Germany - does anyone here have one bought in the UK, for example? The brand was named after Joseph Chevalier (1742-1818), who was a master watch maker from Geneva. The brand was registered with the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organisation) in 1978 for category 14 "Wrist watches, pocket and hanging-on watches, watch bands of metal; precious and unprecious jewellery; especially necklaces and bracelets and rings." The brand is owned by the Swiss company Joseph Chevalier Montres SA, which at the time was a subsidiary of Michael Harer Uhren GmbH from Pforzheim in southern Germany. The mother company was declared bankrupt in 2003 and Joseph Chevalier Montres SA now belongs to the Festina group.

It seems unlikely that the brand will be resurrected - the domain name www.joseph-chevalier.com is no longer registered and the German domain www.chevalier.de belongs to a marketing company whose website doesn't seem to have been updated for a long time.

But, who knows, maybe something is cooking. The brand "Joseph Chevalier GenÃ¨ve" with a very similar, if not identical, font was registered (again?) at the OHIM, Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs). Owner of this brand: Joseph Chevalier Montres SA...

Does anyone know any more details?

Cheers,

-wotsch


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## ktmog6uk (Aug 17, 2009)

hi, can't add much other than i like it!


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## sam. (Mar 24, 2010)

Hi wotsch,sorry i cant help you with your query,but i enjoyed reading your historic info, :read:

and you have a really nice watch there,which you've looked after,i like all that polished steel and the classic black dial,

Very classy. k:


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## LozR (Jan 12, 2011)

As you say thats a classy looking watch and you cannot go wrong with the ETA 2824, I have one and its been very reliable.


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## royalwitcheese (Oct 14, 2010)

I agree - simple, classic, elegant. Enjoy!


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