# Camy Owners' Club



## staffie (Dec 2, 2016)

There seems to have been some previous disjointed posting about Camy across the site but surely they deserve to have their own brand topic?


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

I will try and put members out of their misery with regard to this less well-known watch company, but please note that this is not the definitive version of Camy. Before I begin this post, however, I must blow my nose and get out my Camy "Sinusflex" watch to keep channels clear. :laugh: What a ghastly name for a watch...

Anyway, to business:

Camy Watch S.A. turns out to be a rather intriguing company, with no lesser figure than Raymond Weil joining and managing it from 1949, for 26 years. Later, of course, Raymond Weil formed his own watch company - Raymond Weil Geneve (grave accent on second 'e') - and although Weil's own concern is still an independent quality watchmaking firm, it does not seem to have quite the kudos of other quality makers of similarly priced watches.

Camy Watch was founded in Grenchen in 1913, and for a period I cannot ascertain, was certainly listed as "Fabrique d'Horlogerie Camy - Stroun Freres S.A." Unfortunately, although the firm produced some good quality watches for over sixty years, very little is known about it. What we do have though, are many surviving Camy watches, with the more interesting models tending to date to the 1970s. For those wishing to see a selection of vintage Camy watches, I suggest an online trip to, lahorevintagewatch_blogspot.co.uk/p/page-45.html., and I include a few pictures of vintage Camys here below. Apart from the Raymond Weil connection, it is also notable that Simone Bedat (acute accent on 'e') also joined Camy from about the mid 1940s, and was to work closely with Weil. Once again, Bedat was to be a watch brand/company in its own right, but I do not propose to go down the Bedat route here - perhaps on another occasion.

In terms of movements, Camy did not source these in-house, even though they are usually signed "CAMY." Mid-range ETA movements appear, as do more upmarket movements, and the firm also produced chronograph watches (often with Valjoux 7733/4 movements) and dive models.

Interestingly, the Camy models from the Raymond Weil years bear the brand name, "CAMY/GENEVE" and I cannot help thinking that this may reflect on Raymond Weil's later concern where the "Geneve" tag also occurs in the brand name. As for model names, Camy Watch went in for using a plethora of different model labels that occur on the dials. These include the model varieties illustrated above by staffie, with Rallyking, Airport, and SuperAutomatic being a few other model titles.

As a final note on Camy, it appears that the brand came in for a revival in 1999, when some new automatic models in tungsten were produced. However, as of today, the Camy is evidently not a player, and I don't think watches branded "Camy" are being made currently, although with so many brand names rising and falling I cannot be certain.

Camy Rallyking wristwatch with "SuperAutomatic" ETA cal. 2780 movement (pic from thewatchspot.co.uk):

http://www.thewatchspot.co.uk/images/BlogImages/Large/Camy-Airport-RallyKing.jpg


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Back again on this one, and I got your message dear staffie, on your Girard-Perrigaux thread. Please also note that in my listing of the lahorevintagewatch site I made a tiny error where the lower dash should actually be a dot. Apologies.

I just had to put this picture here to show another Camy Sputnik wristwatch. How about the number of jewels in this one then? :laugh: I have read that no watch can really benefit from such a ludicrous "richness" of jewels (pic from netgrafik.ch):


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## staffie (Dec 2, 2016)

> How about the number of jewels in this one then?


 OMG - you could open a jewellers shop with just that one watch :thumbsup: . What a lovely looking watch though, dare I say it there is something 'timeless' about them and they are eminently wearable. Yet again a set of watches that, following my initial surge of being good and selling some off from my father's collection, will undoubtedly be held as watches to wear.

Fascinated to see the relationship you identified with Raymond Weil as my father had 2 and I have added to that with a new one last year which I bought whilst on a cruise (on the ship, not from on-shore dodgy merchant!). I love the styles and to me any watch has to be clear and perform its primary purpose of telling the time - hence why I could not resist the Maestro at a good discount price.


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## Davy25Jewels (May 10, 2017)

Joined this forum while I was looking for information on this loft find and found this excellent thread, my guess would be the watch pictured has been undisturbed for a minimum twenty years, probably a lot longer. Upon handling the second hand started and is still moving hours later as I type this, which I find quite impressive due to my Seiko experiences. I'm only a casual collector and certainly not able to attempt a restoration myself but I quite like the look of this one and would like to wear it occasionaly. At the very least the glass needs attention or replacing and a new strap fitting, any idea what I could expect to pay to get this into clean wearable condition?


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

No one has a Camy watch of their own to post?

Mine isn't the finest example, with its 17J FHF-ST 96 which Ranfft dates to 1965. It wears small - 31mm across and 41mm diagonal with concealed 18mm lugs. Not my favourite by a long way, but kinda cute.


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## Minute (Aug 22, 2020)

Hello,

I have this Camy and it just shows Camy Swiss on the dial.

On the back it is writtenL Antimagnetic, Water resistant, stainless steel and gold electroplated brzel and a kind of logo or a figure like an open square topped with a triangle like the Tag Heuer and inside that logo there is another figure like a T with a triangle at the end of the vertical line.

I dont knowhow to insert anmd image on this website.


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

Minute said:


> dont knowhow to insert anmd image on this website


 You need to upload it somewhere like Flickr or Imgur, then paste the link into your post here.


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## Gar (Nov 15, 2020)

I was browsing the internet for more information on Camy, and came across this forum.

This was my grandmothers Camy watch, dating back to 1930. It's stamped with .375, which I understand is 9k gold on both sides.


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## John_D (Jul 21, 2018)

Gar said:


> I was browsing the internet for more information on Camy, and came across this forum.
> 
> This was my grandmothers Camy watch, dating back to 1930. It's stamped with .375, which I understand is 9k gold on both sides.


 Nice watch, I've got a few Camy watches, a fairly underrated brand in my opinion.... From the style, I not convinced it is as old as 1930, Incabloc was not invented till 1934 and markings of such on the dial were more common much later... however a picture of the gold hallmarks would date it to the year of manufacture. I'm leaning more towards the 1950's or even 1960's....

This one for instance is around 1970.....


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## andyclient (Aug 1, 2009)

My only Camy in the collection as @John_D says very underarted in my opinion also , they use good movements generally , this one is fitted with an ETA 2789 which if the name was different on the dial would be worth considerably more


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## John_D (Jul 21, 2018)

andyclient said:


> My only Camy in the collection as @John_D says very underarted in my opinion also , they use good movements generally , this one is fitted with an ETA 2789 which if the name was different on the dial would be worth considerably more


 I have a few Camy's now, getting in quick before they take off as the next make to become collectable....

A couple of 'divers'










A rather nice 'Kings Club' in absolute mint condition...



















The 'Bow Tie' cased one in my earlier post....










A 'Silver Cloud'...










A 'Jumbo Jet'.....










And this rather quirky, squarish cased offering....










Which came complete with box.. though I've changed the strap for a nice genuine croc one as the original one was looking a bit tired........










All together......










And a few contemporary adverts from the brand....














































Not to forget the 'Raymond Weil' connection......

Which leads me back onto THIS


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

John_D said:


> I have a few Camy's now, getting in quick before they take off as the next make to become collectable....


 I thought they had become collectable. At least, they usually go for more than I want to pay.


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## John_D (Jul 21, 2018)

spinynorman said:


> I thought they had become collectable. At least, they usually go for more than I want to pay.


 They have started to go up in price over the last year or so....Airports, Piccadillys, Montegos and Sputniks are already well out of my price range unfortunately....though I live in hope...I've been fairly lucky so far I think that the most that I have paid for one is about £55, just a matter of being in the right place at the right time...


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

John_D said:


> They have started to go up in price over the last year or so....Airports, Piccadillys, Montegos and Sputniks are already well out of my price range unfortunately....though I live in hope...I've been fairly lucky so far I think that the most that I have paid for one is about £55, just a matter of being in the right place at the right time...


 Nice collection anyway.


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## Jim McCreery (Dec 26, 2020)

I was wondering if this page is still active. I found my grandfathers Camy and would like some information on it if possible.. Thank you in advance.


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## Fred_Australia (Feb 14, 2021)

Gentlemen I have inherited a Camy Geneva 21 jewel incabloc solid gold watch from my grandfather. It has 12-3-6-9 on the dial solid gold watch. I need to get a crown and an 18k gold bracelet. If any one in this forum knows any one who is still selling parts for this watch please contact me. A big thanks in advance. Fred my email is (REMOVED BY MODS)

MODERATOR COMMENT TO @Fred_Australia please don't post email addresses in comments. You should also add the lug size if you want a bracelet and a minimum size to make sure it will fit both the watch and your wrist. If anyone has anything to offer you they can contact any of the mods and we can forward it.


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## Nicke Andersson (Feb 17, 2021)

Hi.

can anyone tell me when this was made?!


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## OldWatchnewMe (Feb 26, 2021)

Hi all,

Very, very new watch enthusiast. Bought a vintage Camy diver (the one with the big arrow hour hand) on ebay and love it. Never new a manual winding watch would be s satisfying. It's in great condition but I know next to nothing about the watch itself other than it's circa 60's. If anyone knows anything about it (it has 7311 engraved on the back) I'd be really interested.

Cheers!


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

OldWatchnewMe said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Very, very new watch enthusiast. Bought a vintage Camy diver (the one with the big arrow hour hand) on ebay and love it. Never new a manual winding watch would be s satisfying. It's in great condition but I know next to nothing about the watch itself other than it's circa 60's. If anyone knows anything about it (it has 7311 engraved on the back) I'd be really interested.
> 
> Cheers!


 Picture would be helpful, you can use the Gallery free trial to post it, if you don't already have an online version to link to.


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## OldWatchnewMe (Feb 26, 2021)

spinynorman said:


> Picture would be helpful, you can use the Gallery free trial to post it, if you don't already have an online version to link to.


 Thanks, I'll work on getting some pics of mine, but I found this very similar one with some searching: https://images.app.goo.gl/zum5GWgkV7FZpD8U7


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## spinynorman (Apr 2, 2014)

OldWatchnewMe said:


> Thanks, I'll work on getting some pics of mine, but I found this very similar one with some searching: https://images.app.goo.gl/zum5GWgkV7FZpD8U7


 OK, as you may have gathered, 7311 is the model number for a range of Camy dive watches made in the 1970s. There are different dial designs, but the common factor seems to be FHF/ST 96-4 handwinding movements. That's about the limit of my knowledge of them, but someone else may be able to tell you more.


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## OldWatchnewMe (Feb 26, 2021)

spinynorman said:


> OK, as you may have gathered, 7311 is the model number for a range of Camy dive watches made in the 1970s. There are different dial designs, but the common factor seems to be FHF/ST 96-4 handwinding movements. That's about the limit of my knowledge of them, but someone else may be able to tell you more.


 That's amazing, even to know the movement brings me joy. Having done some digging it looks almost identical to the Rotary Aquaplunge. I really dig it, i'll upload some pics when i get a minute but mine is in awesome condition. Being super new watches, winding a watch a incredibly satisfying, who knew?


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## SolaVeritate (Mar 21, 2021)

This is my Camy Geneve "Starjet".










This isn't the orig strap (does anyone know what type and style they had?) and so I have a new black SS one on its wayward path through the post to me as I post this.

A starjet.. hahaha, I just had to buy this one simply because of its name. It probably needs a good servicing and I'll get round to that someday

Edit.. model number on the back is 7724. "Camy" embossed on crown.


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## SolaVeritate (Mar 21, 2021)

New strap. Heres a couple more pictures..


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## Squanch (Sep 13, 2021)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/[email protected]/?

Noticed there was a Camy Superautomatic Sputnik 77 Jewel on here, wondered if anyone could spread more info on it other than what's printed in it lol. I've had to replace the strap as this was my grandads (died 1964) then my dad's (died 2016) and he'd put an ugly cheap metal one in.

The link above is to my Flickr photos of the watch but message me on Instagram (@kaiblebasha) if they don't show and I'll send them over.

Thanks


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## sathomasga (5 mo ago)

Here's another skin diver (7311). I rescued this from eBay and cleaned and restored it a bit. Still keeping great time.


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