Wittnauer Chronograph, circa 1969, Ref. 3525/14A

Case: Three-body, screw-down case back, stainless steel, burgundy rotating bezel, signed.

Dial: White with black tachymeter and registers. Hours, minutes, with small seconds and a thirty minute counter. Applied baton markers for hours. Signed.

Movement: Manual wound, Valjoux 7733, 17 jewels, unadjusted, signed “Wittnauer Watch Co.”

Diameter: 40mm, 14.4mm thickness.

Crystal: Plexiglass.

Condition: Good condition with signs of wear.

More about Wittnauer:

Albert Wittnauer emigrated from Switzerland to New York in 1872, bringing with him his knowledge of fine watchmaking. In 1880, he launched a line of watches of the same quality as watches produced in Switzerland. Wittnauer watches quickly became recognized for their excellence and were supplied to armed forces in both World War I and World War II.

Wittnauer Watch Company featured Swiss movements, with the same functions and durability as the fully Swiss-manufactured watches, but at a lower price point.  As early as 1918, the company developed the world’s first waterproof, shock-proof, and anti-magnetic watch, known as the Wittnauer All-Proof. In the middle of the 1920s, Wittnauer began focusing on developing watches and instruments for aviation.

Amelia Earhart’s plane used during her solo Atlantic crossing used Wittnauer aviation instruments as did Howard Hughes’ plane when he set a US coast-to-coast record.

In the 1950s, Longines purchased the Wittnauer Watch Company, and continued to sell watches in the US under both brand names. Wittnauer, with the help of Longines, would become one of the three contenders, along with Rolex and Omega, to be used by US astronauts on the moon during NASA’s Apollo missions.