$2,300
"Two-Tone Dial" Vacheron & Constantin, Genève, No. 427940, case No. 280800. Made circa 1940. Very fine and elegant, staybrite keyless dress pocket watch. Three-body, polished, inclined stepped bezel, rectangular bow. Two-tone, silvered, applied gold bâtonindexes and Arabic quarter hour numerals, outer minute track, subsidiary seconds. Pink gold "bâton" hands. Notes Staybrite Is the name of a steel alloy containing 0.2% carbon, 18% chromium and 8% nickel. It is a stainless material that takes a fine polish and is therefore often used for making watch cases. It is probably the type of stainless steel that has been most widely used by watch companies, from the 1930's onwards. For further examples of Vacheron & Constantin watches with Staybrite cases see: Antiquorum, "The Quarter Millennium of Vacheron Constantin", Geneva, April 3, 2005, Chapter VI.
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2005-06-15
