Avia
The history of Avia watches goes back to the latter end of the 19th century. The company was a pioneer in the production of wristwatches made under their own brand name and provided watches and movements for other brands including New York, The Ball Watch company and Wittnauer.
The years before and after the Second World War marked an important turning point for Avia when the American market became vital for the firms existence and advancement. During World War 2, the main US distributor of Avia watches was M.A. Mead & Co. in Chicago. Mead marketed Avia-made military watches, including a military timer that was utilised by aircrews searching for submarines. This watch incorporated a very accurate timer and stopwatch.
Also during World War 2, another important American watch company imported Avia watches often marked with the model name of “Garland” or just with the company name, “BALL”. This was the famous Ball Watch Company, founded by Webster Clay Ball in the late 19th century. W.C. Ball was an important figure in American watchmaking, especially in the pursuit of more accurate and reliable timepieces, even though the Ball company did not actually manufacture watches themselves. Instead, they had watches made for them with movements and cases coming from various manufacturers produced under contract to Ball’s specifications, with some final adjustments being made by the Ball company. The Ball Watch Company at first used mainly American movements from top American makers such as Hamilton, Elgin and Waltham, but in the early 1940s there was a policy shift by the company and it recommended that Swiss movements from Avia be used instead for Ball’s wristwatches. This must have been a real boost for Avia and probably enhanced their reputation in the American watch market. It should also be noted that the company of A. Wittnauer & Co. of New York, also sold Avia-made watches.
In 1968, after becoming part of a consortium of watch manufacturers, they developed the first quartz digital watch with an LCD (liquid crystal display) and revealed it to the world in 1972. This invention took the watch market by storm and meant that watches of unparalleled accuracy could be mass-produced cheaply.
Description
Here we have a wonderful, original, unrestored and untouched Avia Incabloc dress watch in outstanding condition. This watch carries the high grade calibre E4 17 Jewel hand-wound movement which having just received a full overhaul and service from our vintage specialist watchmaker, is also in sparkling condition. This watch is now perfectly suitable for everyday use should you so wish and will make a wonderful addition to any collection. The watch comes with its original box and Avia Avalast swing tag.
The Dial
This is classic vintage dress watch dial design at its best. Simple, elegant, and just right. Something many contemporary watch dials fail to achieve. This dial carries original baton hour indices which are swept by the original ‘Lance’ hands. This outstanding watch also has the addition of a date window at ‘3’. All of these beautiful aspects on the stunning unrestored silver dial give the watch style and perfect presence.
The dial is simply signed ‘Avia’ just below 12, ‘17 Jewels’ and ‘Incabloc’ just above ‘6’ and ‘Swiss Made’ at the very bottom.
This dial is in original and unrestored and has been left untouched by our restoration team due to its superb condition. Usually, we restore the dials of the watches we sell, however we decided in this case to leave it alone, due to its unusually good condition and to retain its originality and charm for those who prefer this. It also helps to contrast with almost all of the other watch dials you see on our website, which have been restored. The hands, likewise, have also been left in their original untouched condition.
Please note, studio lights, professional-grade digital cameras, and macro lenses can be very unkind to an unrestored vintage watch dial. Also the dial here measures less than 1.25 inches across, so the image you’re seeing may be between 5 – 25 times larger than the watch itself. Therefore please keep in mind you are seeing many tiny flaws which cannot be seen, or will be very hard to see with the naked eye, even under close examination. Suffice to say, on the wrist, in natural light, this dial looks much better and carries a great deal more charm than the photographs portray.
The Movement
The movement within this watch is the Avia Calibre E4, 17 Jewel movement which is in sparkling condition and has been fully overhauled and serviced by our vintage specialist watchmaker. This means the movement has been completely disassembled, cleaned, inspected and rebuilt using only the correct original parts where required before careful calibration and testing. Upon returning to stock, the watch is now running to within +10 seconds per day which is truly outstanding for any vintage watch of this age!
With care and with regular servicing, say every 4 years, we would fully expect this watch to run quite happily for many decades to come. We are therefore more than happy to offer this watch with our 12 months’ warranty* and to assist with servicing again in the future.
*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the list price is paid.
The Watch Case
The heavy 9ct yellow gold case is of a bold, two-piece design and measures 33mm, excluding the correct unsigned crown. It is in tip-top condition from every aspect.
The case has been carefully inspected for fatigue marks and there are none. It has received a light clean and gentle hand-polish, simply to remove any tarnish and to bring back to the almost new condition you see here. Even under close examination, there are no scratches, dings or signs of wear, visible to the naked eye which leads us to suspect that this watch has seen little, if any, use.
The case-back is of full thickness having never been inscribed and is simply signed with the correct 9ct hallmarks.
As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.
The Strap and Buckle
The watch is fitted with a high quality black lizard strap and plain gold-plated buckle, which we feel suits the watch perfectly. If, however, a different colour or style of strap is preferred, please let us know and we will do our best to oblige, free of charge. We carry tan, conker, dark brown burgundy and black straps in stock, in plain, padded leather, alligator, crocodile or lizard skin.
Box and Papers
Although there are no original papers with this watch, the reference numbers, markings, signatures and hallmarks are all correct, dating this watch to c1960.
Detailed particulars will be included with our receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will also be provided at the time of sale along with our unique ‘Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee’ which states: “If this watch proves to be anything less than 100% genuine, authentic and original, a full refund will be given at any time”.
The original Avia presentation box shown in the photographs is included.
If you would like to pay by bank transfer we will be pleased to assist you with this. Similarly, if you wish to pay by International SWIFT or Bank Wire Transfer we will provide you with our BIC / Swift number and our IBAN number.
Please check the import duties and any taxes your government may apply, these are different for each country and unfortunately out of our control.
We understand there may be some ‘loopholes’ that may help you avoid these charges, however attempting to use these could impact our ongoing ability to serve our growing international customer base.
For those that happen to visit the UK on occasion we are of course more than happy to store your watch until we can meet you in our offices in Kensington, London, and deliver your watch directly to you there.
As with all our watches, this watch will be sold under our 14 days no quibble sale or return policy.
In Conclusion
This is a first class example of a top quality Avia Incabloc dress watch in 9ct yellow gold with the superb Avia Cal.E4 hand-wound movement. The movement is of a high grade and on a par with watches far more expensive than this. Avia watches are highly collectable and the rarity of this watch means the value will always remain strong.
A word on our prices – We always try our hardest to acquire the very highest quality watches we can find, before restoring them to the highest possible standards. We then offer these at the fairest prices we can, taking into account our pre and post-sales care and service. This approach means we will never be the cheapest, but nor will we be the most expensive. Indeed there are some well-known stores in West London which are highly successful charging between two to three times the price you see here. We, therefore, consider our prices to be fair, given the quality of watches we have to offer.
Please note, we also welcome part exchanges. If you have a watch or a small collection for sale, please contact us as we will be happy to discuss this.
We will also be happy to Service your watch, Repair your watch or Restore your watch, all at ‘sensible’ prices. Please see here.
If you have any questions please call us on 020 7727 7095 or if calling from overseas on +44 207 727 7095.
Please take a look at our other fine vintage gold watches.
Thank you.
Andrew M via feefo 
3rd December 2024 
JLC1891 
