Mathey-Tissot Cal.730 14ct c1947

Mathey-Tissot

Mathey-Tissot is a Swiss watch maker of prestige watches, originally established in 1886 by Edmond Mathey-Tissot at Les Ponts-de-Martel in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. He began by specializing in complications, and especially repeater pocket watches that is, watches which chime the hour or the hour and quarter-hour (quarter-repeater) or the hour, quarter-hour and minute (minute-repeater). The firm soon proceeded to make chronographs and won a number of prizes.

Description

Here we have a truly outstanding example of a Mathey-Tissot triple date, triple register chronograph. This watch carries the original, unrestored and untouched off-white dial with the original hands and indices. This dial has got some wonderful, yet subtle, signs of ageing. The 14ct yellow gold case houses the very high graee calibre 730, hand-wound movement, which is in sparkling condition.

The Dial

The dial is beautifully original, and in terms of condition, it is one of the very best we have seen on this model. In terms of design, it is beautifully symmetrical and well-balanced, and proportioned. The dial itself, in off-white, contrasts wonderfully with the yellow gold case and original gilt ‘index’ hands which sweep 1 – 12 standard Arabic numerals.

The dial may initially look quite complicated, but this is because it conveys a great deal of information. In actual fact, it successfully conveys a lot of information in a very simple manner once you become familiar with the layout.

The dial carries the classic triple date design, to which most of the top watch houses adhere. We are great admirers of this dial design as it is symmetrical, neat and attractive, yet it manages to convey so much!

This wonderful watch carries 4 dials and two windows, around the edge of the dial indicates the date of the month from 1 – 31. The dial you see at 3, indicates the elapsed time while the chronograph function is running – in minutes up to thirty minutes. The dial at 6 simply indicates the elapsed hours up to twelve hours and the dial at 9 indicates the constant running seconds, irrespective of the operation of the chronograph.

The window to the left hand side by 10, indicates the day of the week and the window to the right hand side by 2, indicates the month of the year.

The dial also carries a tachymeter scale and a black seconds scale divided into fifths of a second. The tachymeter scale measures speed based on time travelled over a fixed distance, i.e. as a rangefinder – typically in a military application; especially naval gunnery and anti-aircraft artillery – or to measure how far away a storm is, by using the difference in time between the arrival of a flash of light and its associated sound.

The dial is simply and correctly signed with ‘Mathey-Tissot’.

This is the original dial which remains unrestored and untouched. Considering its age and also that it remains unrestored, it is in superb condition. The overall effect is quite wonderful, with a very light and even patina.

Please note – studio lights can be quite unkind to an unrestored dial and this dial looks far better under natural daylight.

The Movement

As mentioned above, this watch houses its original well-proven Mathey-Tissot Calibre 730, handwound, chronograph movement. This particular watch movement is in superb condition having been fully overhauled and serviced by our vintage chronograph specialist watchmaker. This involves the complete dismantling of the movement to each of its component parts, ultrasonic cleaning, microscope inspection and replacement of parts as required – only with new originals – then careful reassembly and oiling, ready for final testing and careful calibration.

Each of the chronograph functions operates perfectly and the centre seconds hand resets itself instantly on pressing the bottom pusher. The normal timekeeping function is also running perfectly, having been calibrated and timed at +8 seconds per day, which is truly outstanding for any watch of this age. The watch also has a power reserve of 38 hours in its fully wound state.

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. Our watchmaker commented that he found the movement to be especially clean and in excellent condition. we are therefore more than happy to offer this watch with our 12 months’ warranty* and to assist with servicing again in the future.

The movement is signed with ‘Mathey-Tissot’ along with ‘Seventeen 17 Jewels’ and ‘Swiss Made’

*Please note – our 12 months’ warranty is only applicable if the list price is paid.

The Watch Case

The 14ct yellow gold case is of a bold, three-piece design and at 36mm, excluding the correct unsigned crown, this is a large watch for the period. The case-back is of full thickness and has never been inscribed.

This watch case has been carefully inspected for fatigue marks and there are none. It has recently completed a full restoration by our team and is in excellent condition. Even under close examination, there are few scratches, dings or signs of wear visible to the naked eye, leading us to suspect that this watch has seen very little real use.

The inside of the case back is correctly signed with ‘Mathey-Tissot’ along with the correct 14ct hallmarks and the case serial number 117933.

As ever, our standard advice applies: Vintage watches should be kept clean and dry at all times.

The Strap and Buckle

The strap fitted is a high quality brown leather strap with a plain gold-plated buckle. If 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 and Black in stock and in plain padded leather, or crocodile skin or lizard skin. For a wider selection, please take a look at the wonderful choice of straps offered by our suppliers Watch Obsession here. We will be pleased to order and fit the strap of your choice, within 24 – 48 hours.

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 c1947.

Detailed particulars will be included with our purchase receipt for your interest and security. A separate insurance valuation for the replacement value of this watch will 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 high quality hardwood presentation box shown in the photographs is included in the sale of this wonderful watch.

Payment and Delivery

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 who happen to visit London 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 hand 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

A fascinating watch which will undoubtedly make an excellent financial investment as well as be something to wear, treasure and enjoy! It is also practical for use as an everyday wristwatch should you so wish and if it continues to be well cared for and serviced every 4 years, it will last another lifetime at least. This watch carries a great deal more style, individuality and panache than a new watch and to buy the same quality today would be very difficult.

However you may wish to view this watch, as each year goes by and the world market grows ever larger, the limited supply and high demand for the finest vintage gold watches means prices will inevitably climb ever higher!

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 vintage gold watches.

Thank you.