So I was wandering around ebay and ran across this watch and was drawn to it. Problem is, I have no clue what the history of this manufacture is or can speak to it's quality. Does anyone know anything about these? I know that I like the way it looks. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Election-Chronograph-Black-Dial-/181333280957Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
When I hear "Election" I think "Marvin" and "Argentina," but I don't remember why. Here's something from the dark recesses of the web. http://watch-wiki.org/index.php?title=Election Agree that's a sharp looking chronograph.
Thanks for the link, it gave me a little more rope to search with. I guess the game is afoot! As much as I love Omega, this may become my charge since I love a good mystery and this particular company, from what I can find, was a good manufacture in their time. They just had quite a bit of change over a short period, then fell away. This particular watch has the "Election Grand Prix Berne in 1914 (in the rectangle square)" stamp putting it it in the range of 1934-1950 I'm guessing. The company was taken over by Marvin in 1950 and there were several changes in the trademark and I cannot find any use of this trademark after that. The kicker on this particular watch is the movement. It is not marked like almost all of the other movements that they produced. It also doesn't match up with any of the movements that are referenced on http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk It looks legit based on all of the other Election watches that are chronos from that period as they all look like they used the Election 960. ...and this is why old watches become an addiction! THIS is fun to research!
In comparison to all of the other ones they used in the past. Still a newbie with movements so to be honest you could put a refrigerator compressor in front of me and I might get them confused. Well, ok... maybe not that bad, but you get my point.
It's not so unusual to have minor variations in movement markings, even when the movement is an in-house production. Also, many watch assemblers (as opposed to manufactures) rebranded dead normal, stock movements supplied to them with their own movement numbers. So the Election 960 is a Valjoux 22, as is a Cyma 958 and probably others.
This is a very fine watch! Made by the sons of L. Braunschweig , La.Chaux-de-Fonds. NOT all top end watch makers went on to become 'household names' in 2017 ............... does that mean that they did not make , often , watches that were superior , Yes superior, to many of their colleagues at the time , Yes Rolex , Omega & Many more .... some Election chrono's were equal too & even superior to he above 'household names' in 2017. In my opinion , far too many ppl concentrate on a brand name & not the actual watch ! If an Omega , is of lesser quality than a 'joe blow' .... , why pay 3 times as much for the Omega? Buy the better watch. That May differ if your'e buying for $ profit {which is 100% fine of course} Or to own a stunning , often Very rare , fine quality watch at 1/3 the price , or less .......? I know which I prefer ................. especially as vintage watch collecting is still in it's infancy {to a degree} and as more n more ppl learn about / learn the facts/truth about the first 35 yr's of the full history of vintage watches from that period ............... watch {pun intended} the values of some brands increase in multiples of 100%'s over the next 20 yr's. There are soo many fine watches on the market , from 1910 -1940's , with dial names that Very few ppl know ............... the watch itself may scream "special" yet the dial name is not easily found on page 1 of google , so ppl click next & pay 5 times as much "for the same watch" with a brand name they are familiar with. Thats just my view. lol