# 1936 Mathey-Tissot Wristwatch.



## skevin (Dec 2, 2010)

Hi folks,

Hope you don't mind me jumping in and picking your brains, but Google has failed me (I suppose there has to be a first time for everything).

Anyway, I have a watch that I know very little about. Originally I was only searching to find out if this watch is of any value, but now having spent so much time in said search, its become almost an obsession and I'd really like to know a little bit more about this watch, if indeed there is more to discover.

I do know that it belongs to a friend who inherited it from his father, he also tells me that it was his (father's) 21st birthday present in 1936.

I have tried to attach a few (not very good, but the best I could do) pics of the watch. It is automatic, has a sweep second hand, and actually keeps very good time. The face is somewhat discoloured, and the stainless steel case measures 33mm in diameter, and has a serial number 137097.

Thanks in advance for any information you can give.

Kevin


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## sam. (Mar 24, 2010)

skevin said:


> Hi folks,
> 
> Hope you don't mind me jumping in and picking your brains, but Google has failed me (I suppose there has to be a first time for everything).
> 
> ...


It looks like a 50's watch to me?,although i'm probably completely wrong!


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## sam. (Mar 24, 2010)

Edmond Mathey-Tissot established his watchmaking business at the village of Les Ponts-de-Martel in 1886.He began by specializing in complications, and especially repeater pocket watches, that is, watches which chime the minute and/or the hour and quarter-hour. The firm soon proceeded to make chronographs and won a number of prizes.

Mathey-Tissot 'Calamatic' gold triple calendar moon phase watch, c. 1947

In 1899, the outbreak of the Second Boer War led to such an expansion in demand for Mathey-Tissot watches that a new factory was built. Among the orders received was one from a nobleman in Scotland who commissioned 2,500 watches, having decided to present every man in his son's regiment with a repeater watch: in gold for officers, silver for other ranks.

In 1914, Mathey-Tissot was represented at the Kew Observatory Competition by six Observatory Chronometers capable of split-second timing, all six being rated 'Class A' with the comment 'specially good'. The same year, Mathey-Tissot gained the Grand Prix at the Swiss National Exhibition. During the First World War, the company supplied the United States Army's Corps of Engineers with precision chronographs in large quantities, while General Pershing, commanding the United States Expeditionary Force, chose the watch to award to members of his own staff. Both before and after the Second World War, the company continued to supply the U. S. Army and the Royal Navy.

The name 'E. Mathey-Tissot & Co.' was protected by trademark in the United States in 1937.

The firm at one time had good relations with China and made watches of Chinese designs for that market which have been described as "complicated and painstaking pieces... in the realm of superior watchmaking".

In 1969 and 1970, Elvis Presley bought several dozen customized Mathey-Tissot automatic watches for giving to family, friends, and staff, the purpose being to identify the wearers as having a privileged right of access to Presley's concerts and tours. For this object, a bezel setting was created with the name ELVIS PRESLEY in raised letters and four stars.

Mathey-Tissot today continues to make and customize watches with both mechanical and quartz movements.The company's logo is similar to the symbol of the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, but turned upside-down, with the words Mathey-Tissot in manuscript, above the printed words "since 1886".

The name of Mathey-Tissot is registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization, under the company name E. Mathey-Tissot & Co SA, of Boulevard de PÃ©rolle, Fribourg, Switzerland.

Wikipedia.


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## bjohnson (Oct 2, 2007)

It's a good quality watch (firmly entrenched in the middle tier of quality bounded by Caravelle on the bottom and Omega on the top)

I would say 1950s based on style and features.

SS case

Likely an ETA movement.


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Where there any automatic movements as early as 1936? :think:

It would help to have a watchmaker open the back and take a crisp, detailed macro shot of the movement.


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## bjohnson (Oct 2, 2007)

David Spalding said:


> Where there any automatic movements as early as 1936? :think:


Yes.

In fact, the Harwood company that invented the first automatic movement was already out of business by the mid-1930s.

But they were VERY uncommon



David Spalding said:


> It would help to have a watchmaker open the back and take a crisp, detailed macro shot of the movement.


Yes.

A rotating motion by the owner feeling for the tell-tale bumps of a bumper automatic could help date to the approximate decade without opening it.


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## KevG (Dec 15, 2008)

David Spalding said:


> Where there any automatic movements as early as 1936? :think:
> 
> It would help to have a watchmaker open the back and take a crisp, detailed macro shot of the movement.


Swiped from Wikki

Self winding mechanisms were more successful in wristwatches because the rotor could operate every time the owner moved his or her arm. The first version did not appear until after World War I, when wristwatches became popular. It was invented by a watch repairer from the Isle of Man named John Harwood in 1923,who took out a UK patent with his f...orresponding Swiss patent on 16 October 1923. The Harwood system used a pivoting weight which swung as the wearer moved, and which in turn wound the mainspring. The ratchet mechanism only wound the mainspring when moving in one direction. The weight didn't rotate a full 360Â°; spring bumpers limited its swing to about 180Â°, to encourage a back and forth motion. This early type of self-winding mechanism is now referred to as a 'hammer' or 'bumper'.

When fully wound, Harwood's watch would run for 12 hours autonomously. It did not have a conventional stem winder, so the hands were moved manually by rotating a bezel around the face of the watch. The watches were first produced with the help of Swiss watch manufacturer Fortis and went on sale in 1928. 30,000 were made before the Harwood Self-Winding Watch Company collapsed in 1931 as a result of the Great Depression. 'Bumper' watches were the first commercially successful automatic watches; they were made by several high grade watch manufacturers during the 1930s and 1940s.














Kev


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## skevin (Dec 2, 2010)

Firstly, thank you for the responses, and here is an update...

I mentioned to my friend that you had suggested that the watch was made in the 1950's, to which he sat and thought over his beer. He then came up with the notion that maybe this was the watch that was given to his father from his employer, as a "thank you" for the work he did on his car during the winter of 1950.

[Google redeems itself here] - It would appear that the "work done on his car", involved rebulding the engine of a 4.5 litre Bentley racing car in preparation for the forthcoming season. His employer was a dentist, Horace Wilmshurst, who in April 1951 in his now much faster Bentley, beat the Golden Boy of British racing Mike Hawthorn, in his Riley Ulster Imp, into second place at Goodwood.

My friend also has a picture of himself as a 3-4 yr old being driven around Silverstone in this car. I wonder if I should tell him that this very car is currently up for sale?

http://www.martinchisholm.com/cars/listings/pdf/Bluebell.pdf

Thanks again for all your help.

Kevin


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