Martin adds to our Valjoux 72 knowledge

From: Martin Vogt <m-b.vogt@xxxxxxx.de> Date: January 17, 2006 5:52:02 AM CST To: <Chuck Maddox> Subject: Info on the Valjoux 72 5 Hi Chuck, it's always a pleasure to read your watch blog. I wish I could find the time/material to post more frequently. Hopefully I will and things will pick up. You asked for further information on the Val. 72 theme and I checked my good old Chronograph 'bible' , the Lang-Meis, Chronographen, Armbanduhren: Die Zeit zum Anhalten  (transl. : Chronographs, Wristwatches: The Time to Stop) published by Callwey, 1992, (not continued!) unfortunately only available in german. (One of the authors is Mr. Gerd R. Lang, owner of Chronoswiss, a master-watchmaker, watch-maniac and a chrono specialist .  Searching the model-tableaus I found a remark on the Valjoux 725 :  12-hour counter and flyback device.....  But no photo or further description....  Wow, well that makes sense! Thanks for the info/insight! This is the only information on this movement I ever noticed since collecting chronographs. Neither other books nor the internet brought additional information. Maybe this was a Valjoux project only which was not continued??? That's a possibility... Or it could be some firm incorporated the movement into a product without making a splash about it. Best regards from Germany Martin  PS: According to the named book, the Val. 71 has 14''' only.  Anyone told me that the Val.71 should have been the predecessor of the Val.72. The corresponding two-subdial version to the Val. 71 is the Val. 22 (also 14''') with its successor Val.23 Good information to know! Thanks Martin! Here is an updated table: Valjoux 72 Family of Chronograph Movements: Movement #: Description: 71 Large 15 Ligne version of Valjoux 72 (13 Ligne or just under) 72 Basic ‘Plain Jane’ Valjoux 72. 721 "Seafarer" Tides complication in 9 o'clock sub-dial... 722 Rolex variant with Breguet Overcoil & MicroStella Balance 72c/723 Tri-Date non-moonphase v.72 724 GMT complication 725 Fly-back complication, not certain it was ever produced in quantity 726 Improved v.72 movement. 727 Rolex version of 726 with Bruget Overcoil & MicroStella* 728 1 Register/Center Pinion Chrono Minute hand varitant. 729 GMT, probably v.726 with GMT complicaton added. 730 Another Triple-Date model, perhaps DDM v.726? 88 Triple-Date Moonphase model (v.723/72c with Moonphase) * Note: The posting of Kohei's scan of the GP is something that throws a monkey wrench into my theory of the v.727 being a Rolex Exclusive movement, I think there is more to this movement than I know at this time. Thank you Martin for increasing our knowledge! -- Chuck

Swiss Watch Industry "The War of Independence"

A post over on Chronocentric's ZOwie Omega Discussion forum by forum newcommer Geo leads me to a very interesting, informative and educational article located on TimeZone titled "The War of Independence" on the Swiss Watch Industry. I learned a lot of the history of the current terrain in the Swiss watch industry and I'm including a link to it here so you may do the same! -- Chuck

Happy New Years and sorry for the absence...

Sorry I haven't been posting anything here lately. With the crush of the holidays, the bowl games immediately after New Years, CES and MacWorld (the real Christmas for Apple and Macintosh fans every year) I've been very busy with things behind the scenes.

I'll be posting a couple of short notes today and hopefully more frequently in the days and weeks to come than I have been the past month or two.

-- Chuck