I am offering for sale the following vintage gem coming straight from a time capsule and being built by venerable manufacture Favre-Leuba. (Indeed, the brand’s origins reach back to 1737 in Le Locle, Switzerland, establishing it more than 100 years earlier than e.g. Patek Philippe.) The model at hand is from the Duomatic series, equipped with a high-beat (36.000bpH) in-house calibre FL 1164.

Case: The watch appears just as you would and should expect from an unworn new old stock piece with its original finishing (brushed front, polished sides and bevelled edges) present all over the stainless steel case (37mm wide without the signed and non-screwed crown). If anything, there are some micro scratches on the polished surface that can be spotted with the help of a loupe but to the naked eye the case appears truly impeccable despite its age of most probably more than 45 years. The caseback has still attached its protective sticker so I can’t spot any imprints but an original hangtag come along with the watch saying: Ref. 36063, A1PMR, automatic 21, STEEL, shock pr., CAT. 2, FL 1164.

Dial and hands: The highlight of the entire watch, at least from my personal point of view, is the dark blue marbled dial which, exposed to the right light conditions, shows all of its glory. It bears a solid brand logo and baton indices. The day and date wheels are perfectly matching the dark blue dial colour, the hands and all indices have their lume still intact which has turned to a stunning vanilla colour we all love so much with our vintage pieces.

Crystal: The mineral crystal is scratch-free.

Movement: Presumably, the watch was never opened after the day of its assembly. The movement with its smoothly gliding second hand, thanks to 36.000bpH, can be easily wound manually and keeps time accurately (When I put the manually wound watch down in its dial-up-position it showed a deviation of approx. +20s after 24h.) By the way, the movement is noteworthy for being one of the early high-beat-calibres, introduced around 1968, according to this site: http://www.watchfreeks.com/33-general-watch-discussions/12946-36-000-bph-movements.html. It is equipped with a rather rare Triovis screw for exact regulation and hacking second hand for accurate time-setting. Day (in German) and date are switching correctly at midnight and the date can be quick-set by pushing the crown from its normal position. (You can find more details about the movement on Richard Askham’s informative website: http://thewatchspotblog.com/?p=43.)

Strap and accessories: I am selling the watch with its original dark blue leather strap, perfectly matching the dial colour, and a non-signed steel buckle. However, due to its age the strap is rather dry and the velvety finish is a little crumbly. Therefore, it needs some treatment before being ready to use. Additionally, the Favre-Leuba is accompanied by its hangtag and a neutral vintage box which I believe, due to some strap abrasion originally found inside, has been its home for the past decades.

Here’s summed up the main parameters:
-) Size: approx. 37mm wide without crown, 39mm wide incl. crown
-) Lug-to-lug: approx. 39mm
-) Height: approx. 12mm
-) Lug width: 19mm
-) Movement: FL 1164 (in-house), 21 Jewels, 36.000bpH
-) Crystal: mineral glass
-) Strap: original Favre-Leuba-signed leather strap and non-signed steel buckle

Price: The valuation of this beautiful vintage piece is a little difficult as I was able to find only one further comparable example with a plain silver dial in used condition (http://www.vintagetime.com/store.php?crn=1&rn=2286&action=show_detail) which is being offered at what I consider to be quite ambitious USD 595,-. I am offering this vintage dress watch for EUR 350,- plus shipping. The watch is located in Austria (EU) and so am I. I do have plenty of international references from various watch enthusiasts (also known here), so please feel free to ask for them.

I am selling this watch as a private collector. Therefore, it comes without any guarantee. However, I am offering to give a full refund less shipping expenses in case the watch would not be as described by me.

Eventually, here are the pictures (sorry for the remaining dust!):

Kind regards,
F.Antl