Designed in 1973, this Mach 2000 “Dark Master” chronograph became an iconic watch for the French company Lip.

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During the 1960’s and 70’s Lip commissioned a number of achitectural, interior and graphic designers to create some of the most original wristwatches ever produced. Roger Tallon was the real stand-out from the seven designers chosen both in terms of his work for Lip and his career as a whole, during which he designed the high speed TGV train, the worlds first portable TV (the ‘Teleavia’), the 8mm camera, and the Helecoidal staircase.

Roger designed no less than 24 different models for Lip, the most famous of which is undoubtedly the Mach 2000. With it’s D-shaped asymmetric case and quirky multi-coloured pushers it quickly become a cult icon. The watch was originally fitted with a very popular 1970’s chronograph calibre, the Valjoux cal. 7734.

In operation it is just like any other Valjoux powered chronograph; the blue ball in the centre is the crown, used for winding and time-setting. The yellow ball/pusher is used to start and stop the chronograph, and the red ball/pusher is used to reset.

Finding these original versions in good condition can be quite hard these days. These watches came to me needing little more than cosmetic tidying up, but I couldn’t miss the chance to write about them on the blog, it could be a while before another one graces the bench.

In 2008 Lip reissued the Mach 2000 along with a number of other classic models from the 1970’s. As well as the original version they also released a version in silver called the “Light Master” and a version black rather than multi-coloured balls called the “Aeronef”. All the new models are fitted with quartz rather than mechanical movements (too bad!), but they retain almost the same styling as the original.

The owner of the watch in this post, Henrik de Keizer, is lucky enough to own two of them, the second being this one with gold rather than coloured balls.

Henrik is the importer of Lip watches for Holland, for more details and to see the current Lip line-up, visit www.lip-horloges.nl.

For more information about Lip watches in general and their history, check out this page over on Watchismo.

Rich.

** Many thanks to Henrik de Keizer for letting me feature his watches on the blog. **

Another great looking chronograph from Nivada, this time a Taravana Autochron.

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Bought while on vacation in Australia in 1973, this watch is still in the possession of its original owner. It was worn daily until the early 80’s when an accident while repairing a tractor left the glass broken and the wearer with a badly sprained wrist. (It must have been some impact as the crystal on this watch is 3mm thick).

Nivada are an under-rated brand in my opinion as they produced a variety of great looking chronographs over the years, all fitted with good quality calibres. Although the movements were often marked Nivada they never actually produced their own calibres, opting instead to re-brand ebauches from well known Swiss manufacturers such as ETA, Valjoux, and Lemania.

The calibre in this watch is a Lemania Cal. 1341 which I described recently in a post about a Tissot Navigator which has the same calibre. If you want to see a bit more ‘tech’ stuff, you can read that post here.

This Autochron has a rotating inner bezel which can be used as a timer, and is turned using the second crown on the left hand side of the case. Other models were also available in the same series, one with a fixed Tachymeter inner bezel…

… and also a model with a ’square’ case, reminiscent of the Heuer Silverstone chronograph from the same period.

The Autochron also bears more than a passing resemblance to the popular Sinn 142 which featured the same case and a reworked version of the Lemania cal. 1341, the Lemania cal. 5100.

With regard to the work required on this watch, needless to say that a new crystal would be needed, along with a service after it’s 25 year ‘retirement from active duty’. As a piece of the glass was floating around inside the watch, and I was concerned that it may have scratched the dial or hands, but luckily that wasn’t the case. So, with a new glass fitted and the movement serviced, the watch was back to its best.

Rich.

** Many thanks to John Graham for letting me feature his watch on the blog. **

I’ve written quite a few posts about Bell-Matics and their calibres, but it’s been well over a year since one appeared on the blog. This one however is somewhat rare, and in some respects is the missing chapter of the story.

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What makes this Bell-Matic stand out from the crowd is that it has a date only calibre, the cal. 4005A, rather than the day/date cal. 4006A found in the majority of Bell-Matics.

The date only models were produced in the early days of the production cycle, and only for a couple of years before being phased out.  Only two models were available, the subject of this post (also available with a blue dial) and this one, available with either a black or white dial.

The cal. 4005A was only available in a 27 jewel version and like all Bell-Matic calibres, the jewel count is clearly displayed on the winding rotor, and the calibre number on the winding bridge.

The main difference between this calibre and the 4006A is of course the calendar mechanism. With the dial removed, comparing the two calibres you can see that the advancing wheel and day jumper found in the 4006A are missing from the calendar plate on the 4005A.

In terms of other differences, the unlocking wheel has no raised boss for the day disc, and the date ring is not as deeply recessed as no additional space is needed to accommodate the day wheel.

Other than that the calibres are identical from a technical perspective, but there are subtle differences in the case designs for the two model lines. The date only models use a different crystal for example.

Although running on arrival, this Bell-Matic had ‘lost it’s voice’. The alarm wouldn’t wind up any more, which all pointed to either a problem with the crown wheel or a broken alarm mainspring.

Sure enough, the problem turned out to be broken alarm mainspring, so with that replaced and the rest of the movement serviced, it was back up and running again.

Rich.

** Many thanks to Neil Lever for letting me feature his watch on the blog. **

This diver from Heuer is known as the 844/3, and was a popular model in the 1980s.

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Already an established name in the chronograph field, in the late 1970’s Heuer decided to test the water with a divers watch (pardon the pun!). Rather than set up an entire production facility they chose to rebrand an existing model from the French producer, Monnin. These early watches were fitted with an automatic Felsa movement and the only thing ‘Heuer’ about the watch was the dial, as the case and movement were still signed G. Monnin. For more information and pictures of the Heuer/Monnin diver, check out this post on Jarl Fr. Rehn-Erichsen’s blog Classic Heuers.

When the experiment proved to be a success, Heuer decided to develop its own version of the watch and switch production back to Switzerland. Rather than continuing with the Felsa movements, the watches were fitted with ETA calibres, and other models were added to the range; namely quartz and ladies versions of the watch. Here is a catalogue image from 1981 showing the models that were available.

Source: AutaviaPassion

In September 1985 TAG (Techniques d’Avant Garde) bought Heuer and from then on all watches were badged TAG Heuer. The 844 remained in the model lineup but was rebranded as the TAG Heuer 1000, a model that proved popular and remained in the range for many years. Even today the influence of the 1000 can still be seen in some of  the current Aquaracer models.

It’s hard to date the watch in this post exactly, but it must have been produced between 1981 and 1985 as it is fitted with an ETA Cal. 2872, and only has Heuer printed on the dial.

There wasn’t anything wrong with the watch this time, the movement just needed a service. As the original hands weren’t in the best condition, rather than restore them, the owner preferred to replace them with sword hands. The new hands weren’t an exact match and needed to be adjusted to fit properly, but the result was worth the effort I think.

You may have noticed that a Heuer transfer has been added to the rotor of this watch.  As the condition of the movement is much better than the rotor,  my guess is that the original rotor was damaged at some time and was replaced.

Rich.

** Thanks to Anders Bunes for letting me feature his watch on the blog, and to Marius Jensen for providing information and pictures for this post. **

Rumour has it that Santa is on his way again…

… let’s hope he makes it!

Have a great Christmas and New Year, and all the best for 2010.

Rich.