By Bruce Shawkey
Found this ad in the Nov./Dec. 1956 issue of Swiss Horological Journal for a Rodania "Jubilee" model. It was a manual-wind model with sweep seconds hand:
Here are some additional images of Rodana/Rodania watches:
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| 1955 |
Here is an ad for the Rodania Datofonic. Seems every watchmaker wanted to jump on the bandwagon and produce an alarm watch, following Vulcain's lead when they introduce the Cricket in 1947.
From 1951, Manfred Aebi, a young Swiss immigrant who was suffering from polio was leading the Belgian branch and was doing such good job he more or less became the voice of Rodania with his innovations, including making Rodania the official sponsor of the Belgian annual road rally race, which is still held to this day:
When Rodania's car would roll through a parade route, loud speakers atop the car would blast the opening line from Beethovan's Fifth Symphony: RO-DAN-I-A
Here are some Rodania watches through the decades:\
Here's an article I wrote about the Rodania Geometer:
I am wondering if anyone noticed that a chronograph by a seldom collected and nearly forgotten watch manufacturer recently sold at auction for nearly $20,000?
I am speaking of Rodania, and the specific watch in question is a "Geometer," a 3-register chronograph introduced circa 1954. It contains the venerable (but widely available) Valjoux 72 movement. It was predicted by the auction house, Miller and Miller, of New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada, to bring between CA$1,500 and CA$2,000.
In the end, 31 bids were recorded, and the watch went for CA$25,960 ($19,983 U.S.) including the 10 percent buyer's premium.
This is an example of what can happen when two bidders fighting over a single watch rockets an obscure brand to stardom. The Geometer is rumored to be the watch that Omega basically copied when the company introduced the Omega Speedmaster Professional in 1957. It is arguably Omega's most famous watch, as it accompanied NASA astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission, the first to land a man on the moon.
I do not know if this story of Omega "copying" the Geometer is true or not, but the similarities between the two watches do stretch the notion of coincidence.
In any event, prior to the auctioning of the Geometer, vintage Rodania (aka Rodana) watches were virtually unknown. They do not even merit mention in the Shugart/Engle/et al. Complete Price Guide to Watches, generally regarded as the bible of the watch collecting world.
I believe this oversight is the result of Rodania associating itself back in the day (1930s-1960s) with catalog merchandisers such as Becken, Otto Young, etc., for sale to independent jewelers and consumers direct. Brands that did this have often become thought of as cheap and//or inferior in the collecting world.
I am speaking of Rodania, and the specific watch in question is a "Geometer," a 3-register chronograph introduced circa 1954. It contains the venerable (but widely available) Valjoux 72 movement. It was predicted by the auction house, Miller and Miller, of New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada, to bring between CA$1,500 and CA$2,000.
In the end, 31 bids were recorded, and the watch went for CA$25,960 ($19,983 U.S.) including the 10 percent buyer's premium.
This is an example of what can happen when two bidders fighting over a single watch rockets an obscure brand to stardom. The Geometer is rumored to be the watch that Omega basically copied when the company introduced the Omega Speedmaster Professional in 1957. It is arguably Omega's most famous watch, as it accompanied NASA astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission, the first to land a man on the moon.
I do not know if this story of Omega "copying" the Geometer is true or not, but the similarities between the two watches do stretch the notion of coincidence.
In any event, prior to the auctioning of the Geometer, vintage Rodania (aka Rodana) watches were virtually unknown. They do not even merit mention in the Shugart/Engle/et al. Complete Price Guide to Watches, generally regarded as the bible of the watch collecting world.
I believe this oversight is the result of Rodania associating itself back in the day (1930s-1960s) with catalog merchandisers such as Becken, Otto Young, etc., for sale to independent jewelers and consumers direct. Brands that did this have often become thought of as cheap and//or inferior in the collecting world.
Additional images:
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