Novelty Watches and Clocks Through The Decades

 By Bruce Shawkey

Novelty Watches and Clocks Through The Decades

Almost since the invention of wristwatches, manufacturers have sought to add extra features. It wasn't enough to just tell time. The watch had to incorporate a compass, a notepad, a keyring for your auto, or a grill for your Bugatti if you were a car enthusiast. This is just a sample of novelty watches through the decades. Let's take a look.

Before we get to the wristwatches, I have to show you this pocket watch. It is just so cool:

Vintage is 1886. The Lancaster ladies watch camera was brought into Bonhams auction house by a man whose grandfather had owned it originally. He was a cabinetmaker at the Birmingham-based firm J. Lancaster & Son, probably working on the many wooden cameras sold by the company. He noticed that among his collection was what looked like an ordinary nickel-plated pocket watch case when closed – but when he opened it, he discovered that it actually contained a tiny camera inside. It brought 21,600 Pounds, about $21,020.

The Enicar Compass Watch

This is probably the first novelty wrist watch. It's by Enicar and has a built-in compass. It's actually a pocket watch made into a wristwatch with hinging lugs. It's quite long, at about 50mm. I can't imagine using the compass; it's about the size of a dime!

Next up, we have the Notora, invented by Favre Leuba in the 1920s. This somewhat ordinary wristwatch has a very special feature: a hidden compartment containing a scroll on rollers under the dial and movement. By pushing a little release button at the bottom of the case, the watch opens up to reveal the notepaper rolls which can be advanced by using the two roller knobs on the case. The owner can then write grocery lists, telephones, reminders, etc.

World War II brought us spy wristwatches that could take pictures, or record conversations. Here is a Steineck Subminiature Wrist-camera that could take up to eight pictures on a disc that was an inch in diameter:

Here is a Hanhart chronograph from 1949 (below) that contains a microphone. An attached cable ran up the wearer’s arm, where a tape recorder was hidden. These were widely produced and used by spy agencies around the world. It was priced at 350 Deutsche Marks. It brought 340 British pounds at the auction house of Elstob & Elstob:

There have long been novelty watches associated with the automobile. Probably the first were the car grill watches made by Mido in the 1920s. Alfa Romeo, Benz, Bugatti, Buick, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Citroën, Fiat, Ford, Lincoln, Opel, Peugeot, Rolls-Royce were all copied. Today, they are all highly sought by watch and car aficionados alike:

Next, we have watches designed for the inside of the car, specifically attached to a key ring:

Here are some addition novelty watches, built into a keychain, letter opener, and cigarette lighter:

Next, we have the Marvin tire watch:

Ernest Borel was a master of the novelty watch. Collectors are probably familiar with the Cocktail watch.  But they produced an even funkier watch.

Juvenia also got into the act with their "Planete" and "Tigone" models, which are so novel, they are actually difficult to tell the time. They didn't sell well; I have never seen an actual example of either one: 

And of course, we have cigarette lighters with watches built into them;

Here's a watch that reminds you to plug the parking meter:

Spy movies brought us their share of novelty watches. Remember the watch James Coburn wore in the movie "In Like Flint"? It had a little lever that would extend and tickle the wrist, waking Flint from his deep meditations:

Ernest Borel is probably the king of novelty watches with their Cocktail watch:

The quartz era brought us a couple of novelties: Calculator, and miniature television:

And then we have the watches from the James Bond movies, notably Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. The watches could do everything from summoning help to cutting steel with a laser beam.

Today, we have watches that can do virtually everything, from monitoring pulse and blood pressure to displaying a recipe for coq au vin, complete with image. I remember 20 years ago when a fellow watch historian wrote s short book on multi-purpose watches. I asked him where he believed technology would go from here. He replied, "You ain't seen 'nothin' yet." 

Here's a clock built into a small transistor radio:

In the '70s, these "steering wheel" watches were popular:

Pen/clock combinations have been popular for quite some time:

Here's a Zorro watch. Normally, these are cheap pin lever watches, intended for children. This one is not only a jeweled lever watch, but also a schronograph:

Tavannes

 By Bruce Shawkey

Tavannes was founded in 1891 by Henri-Frédéric Sandoz in Le Locle, Switzerland. 

Tavannes was an early producer of wristwatch-specific movements, introducing small calibres in the 1910s just for this purpose. It supplied many major manufacturers, including Jaeger-LeCoultre, Dunhill, Hermes, and Cartier. Tavannes' movement manufacturer was called Lisica SA, and many watches use this name instead.

In 1917, the company was approached by two British submarine commanders to consider the construction of a watch suitable for work on submarine decks awash in water. This watch was supposed to be water-tight, non-magnetic, and the balance wheel had to be of a material which shows a minimum of expansion and contraction with variations in temperature. The face had to be legible at all times. The result was the "Submarine" (left).

Tavannes' next achievement occurred in 1928 when the company introduced the belt buckle watch (right).  The company was approached by English King Edward VIII to design a watch he could wear when golfing. By glancing down at his belt buckle, he could tell the time by depressing a button that would release a lid, revealing the watch. 

A third Tavannes innovation occurred in 1930, the Driver's watch, which was curved to fit the side of the wrist (left).

By 1966, Swiss watch giant ASUAG took over Tavannes. The brand languished until it was revived in 2008 by Florin Niculescu. Niculescu sought to revive the company by re-introducing Tavannes' most famous watch, the Submarine. I had the great pleasure of working with Bruce Cummings, head of Tavannes' U.S. operations, in designing the watch. The result is seen below:

Niculescu also sought to re-introduce the Belt Buckle watch (below):

It has a titanium case and suposedly can be ordered frr $5,750

An attempt was made to re-introduce the Drivers' watch, but the market would simply not support it. Instead, Tavannes introduced more conventional models, including the Ocean Edge, the Fluted Edge, and the Thinline.

                    Fluted Edge

Ocean Edge

Thinline

The company has introduced the avante-garde model, the Buggy Quartz, with composite case:

Tavannes states the Buggy watch is made by young people FOR young people. I personally dislike the model because of its radical departure from the company's rich heritage and Niculescu commitment to keeping Tavannes watches mechanical.

 

Glycine

 By Bruce Shawkey

 Glycine was founded by Eugène Meylan in 1914 in Biel/Bienne. They made many nice models through the years, but like many watch companies, they are known for a single watch: the Airman  (left), introduced in 1953.

In 1959, Glycine introduced another model, lesser known to collectors, with  a vacuum-sealed case. The design featured a one-piece case with a flat crystal, held against a thick gasket ring by bezel clamps, and an oversized crown with three round gaskets. This provided an airless environment inside the watch, preventing lubrication from drying out and preventing condensation from entering the case.

Meanwhile, the Airman was selected by the Air Force and made available to pilots at exchange stores on military bases to simultaneously know the time at home and the local time while in combat.

Here are some Glycine models over the years, as seen in company catalogs. 

1920s

1939

In a bizarre turn of events, on September 24, 1955, the body of Glycine founder Eugène Meylan was found stoned to death in a remote path east of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Edouard Glatz, a mechanic apprentice, confessed to killing Meylan. Glatz claimed he drank a pint of wine at an establishment with Meylan and accompanied Meylan to a train station, where Meylan planned to take the first train to Zürich. According to Glatz, the station had not yet opened and the pair took off on an obscure path to wait. Glatz admitted he punched Meylan to the ground, kicked him in the head, stoned him to death, and robbed him. In January 1956, Glatz was found guilty of murder and sentenced to five months in prison.

    In 1965, Astronaut Pete Conrad wore his Glycine Airman for the Gemini 5 spaceflight and again in 1966 for Gemini 11.Through a relationship with Boeing, Glycine introduced the Airman SST (left) in 1967, inspired by supersonic transport aircraft. It featured a tonneau-shaped case, orange dial, and internal rotating bezel. Due to their orange dials, the watches are referred to as pumpkins by some collectors.

During the 1970s, Glycine introduced quartz watches in order to survive, as did many watch companies. In 1984, Hans Brechbühler, a businessman in the watch industry, purchased Glycine. Brechbühler's youngest daughter, Katharina, joined Glycine in 1992. Four years later, Glycine launched its first website. In 2000, the father-and-daughter duo released the Airman 7. It was the first watch available with four time zones (for the four time zones of the contiguous United States).

Katharina assumed sole control of Glycine in 2005 with a goal to restore Glycine to mechanical watches. largely on mechanical offerings. After Hans Brechbühler died in 2010, Katharina sold Glycine to Altus Uhren Holding AG. Katharina remained with the company to supervise design.

Under Altus, Glycine re-released the Airman in its original 36 millimeter case size as the Airman No. 1 and released a 60th anniversary Airman AM/PM model. In 2016, Invicta Watch Group purchased Glycine for an undisclosed amount, with Invicta promising Glycine will maintain its independence while Invicta assists with marketing and distribution.

Here are some additional ads for Glycine:

Eberhard

 By Bruce Shawkey

I had the pleasure in 2014 of attending the Basel watch show and interviewing Mario Peserico, managing director of Eberhard. This has long been one of my favorite watch brands. I especially like their chronographs and even owned a solid gold specimen. So it is with great pleasure I present this article to you.

Georges Eberhard founded his company at the age of 22 in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Early on, the company focused on time-measurement (chronograph) watches for scientists, technicians and physicians, and civil servants. An example from 1905 is shown below, and is from the Eberhard vault:

By 1919, sons Georges (II) and Maurice joined the company. Recognizing early on the shift of timepieces from the pocket to the wrist, the company came out with its first true wrist chronograph, and not just a pocket chronograph jury-rigged to fit the wrist. 

1919 also saw the invention of the "Calotte Patrouille" ("Patrol Cap") which had an ingenious water-tight case which rivaled that of the Depollief case in American. 

Calotte Patrouille

The 1920s and '30s were glorious times for Eberhard, with a post-war economic boom providing many consumers with the means to purchase a watch. In 1935, they introduced what is believed to be the industry’s first double-pusher chronograph featuring start and stop without having to reset the chronograph back to zero. The innovations kept on coming: In 1938: the company introduced its first chronograph with a third register to count elapsed hours.

1939 saw the introduction of the company’s first split-second chronograph that allowed two timing sessions to be displayed simultaneously.

The WWII years were quite devastating to Eberhard. As you might recall from your history, Italy switched sides during the war, first Axis powers, and then Allied. There is no evidence to suggest Eberhard supplied Ordnance to either side.

The 1950s provided another opportunity to prosper. But Eberhard still largely served Europe with some market share in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The brand was virtually unknown in the United States due to high tariffs that restricted Eberhard's presence.

The turmoil in the watch market of the 1960s, with cheap disposable watches, and the Quartz Crises of the '70s proved too much for the Eberhard family to deal with, and so it was sold. It was not until 1982 that the brand was relaunched and returned to making mechanical watches. (Yes, they did make quartz watches for a time).

1998 saw the rebirth of Eberhard, with the the Monti Barbara Monti (Peserico's boss) assuming control and laying down on paper a revolutionary design for a chronograph that would once again seal the company’s reputation in the market as a true innovator. The watch had four registers, and rather than being placed around the circumference of dial, were placed in a horizontal row at the bottom of the dial.

The company today remains focused on chronographs. The "Chrono 4" is still being made But the company also makes time-only models. Their website is at eberhard-co.

At this point, we'll take a look at some Eberhard watches produced through the years.

From the Eberhard vault

A Manual-Wind Dress Watch

Here's a 1950s Eberhard image:

From the Eberhard vault

From the Eberhard vault

From the Eberhard vault

Now, let's take a look at some images from Eberhard catalogs and Eberhard advertisements:

1952 Catalog

1952 Catalog

1952 Catalog