Gents 1950s Le Cheminant Automatic Wrist Watch

A gents Le Cheminant automatic wrist watch.

The first references to Le Cheminant are found in 1847 when John Le Cheminant, a jeweller and watch maker, had a shop in Wimpole Street, London. Le Cheminant went on to become one of several companies which supplied precision time pieces to the British Royal Navy with orders being placed in 1909 and 1915 for chronometers.

By 1923 Le Cheminant had become Le Cheminant and Co with premises at 97 Wigmore Street in London and the company continued to trade successfully.

In 1957, probably around the time this particular watch was made, the company was bought by a Suffolk family, the Betts, who were watchmakers and jewellers.

This particular watch has a 41-jewel automatic movement, an AS 1581 (the 1641 automatic variant with date) which was produced from 1955 onwards, and it is working nicely.

The watch itself measures 34.5mm diameter excluding the winding crown and the lugs. The case is stainless steel and it is in good condition for a 1950s piece with just light minor surface marks, and a few scratches to the back. The case back states that the watch is waterproof but, as with any vintage watch, it should be kept away from water. It also states that the watch has Incabloc shockproofing and a Nivaflex mainspring… Nivaflex was invented in the early 1950s by the Swiss engineer Mr Max Straumann, it is an alloy made from iron, nickel, chrome, cobalt and beryllium .

The signed dial has a very good look with original dauphine hands, centre seconds hand (with some marking) and it proudly boasts about the 41 jewels within the movement. There are a few small raised dots across the dial. The watch has an early form of quickset date whereby the hands are repeatedly moved backwards and forwards between 12 midnight and 8.50pm until the desired date is reached.

A new leather strap has been fitted.

The watch will be sent in a new presentation box.

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All of our watches are checked over before listing, and are also checked for accuracy which is usually within around +/- two to three minutes over 24 hours (unless otherwise stated), which is considered respectable for a vintage watch.

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