Swiss, La Spirotechnique - Geneva Watch Auction: FOUR Geneva Friday, November 11, 2016 | Phillips

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  • Manufacturer: Swiss, La Spirotechnique
    Year: circa 1965
    Movement No: 2'782
    Case No: 471'328
    Model Name: Triton
    Material: Stainless steel
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 11.5''', 21 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Canvas
    Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel pin buckle
    Dimensions: 37mm. Diameter
    Signed: Dial signed
    Accessories: Accompanied by a fitted box

  • Catalogue Essay

    An early competitor for the recreational dive watch market, the French firm La Spirotechnique, with its long and distinguished history in underwater technology, introduced the Triton dive watch in 1963. In the early 1940s, the famed diver and explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau approached the firm Air Liquide, which specialized in compressed gas, to make underwater breathing devices. Cousteau and his partner, Émile Gagnan, wanted air regulators that could be attached to compressed air gas tanks to be used underwater. Due to the success of these early prototypes, Air Liquide formed the subsidiary firm, La Spirotechnique, in 1946 in order to mass-produce dive regulators. Today the firm is known as Aqua Lung/La Spirotechnique and remains one of the largest manufacturers of scuba diving equipment.
    At first glance one notes the unlikely position of the winding and setting crown on the Triton watch. Jean René Parmentier (1921-1998) designed the case, which was manufactured by Dodane, giving the watch an instantly recognizable look with the crown placed at the 12 position. This provided a safety measure, ensuring the diver didn’t get the watch caught on something while underwater. The watch was one of the few in the era certified water-resistant to 200 meters - one of the reasons professional divers chose this tool watch for their work. Not only was it sold to civilians, it was also issued to French military personnel well into the 1970s. Accompanied with its hardly ever seen original box, it’s an unusual and rare find for the collector of vintage sports watches.

142

A very rare and attractive diver's wristwatch with screw down crown at 12, center seconds and date

circa 1965
37mm. Diameter
Dial signed

Estimate
CHF5,000 - 10,000 
€4,600-9,200
$5,200-10,300

Sold for CHF8,750

Contact Specialist
Alexandre Ghotbi
+41 22 317 81 89

Geneva Watch Auction: FOUR

Geneva Auctions 12 – 13 November 2016