WristScan

The famous and rare, I gladly concede it, Rolex Kew A's come to mind, from the early 50's, if I am not mistaken. There has also been rare Pateks, Omegas, Peseux 260's both cased by Breguet and Leroy. All of them earlier than the GP, and just as rare if not rarer than the Kew A's.

In fact the trend of presenting watches to competitions at the Obesrvatoire of Neuchatel , especially pocket watches, with the specific purpose of releasing them commercially afterwards was already well established by the end of the 1950's. In 1956  about one third of the watches presented there we meant to be sold thereafter with their chronometric record. They commended much higher prices. This trend started more slowly for wrist watches but it developed rapidly in the course of the 60's. There were much variation between manufacturers. By 1965-1967, towards the end of the observatory competitions, the vast majority of watches presented in Neuchatel, the numbers of which had increased exponentially, were destined to be sold commercially. It had, as it were, become a common place. I would think that the same happened in Geneva. 

Best regards

  login to reply