I have presented parts of this story earlier, but as the postman finally managed to deliver the actual watch to my door this morning I just had to write up a bit:

Back in the late 70s and early 80s Lemania started working on a revolutionary chronograph design. Partly column wheel, partly quartz, completely weird hybrid .
I have ever seen one other pictured, and that was one of the late Chuck Maddox rarest watches in his collection!
It is believed that only one prototype series of about 200 movements was ever made.



Features:
- Nouvelle Lemania calibre 181
- 18 Jewels.
- "5100" style chrono hands with large seconds and minutes hands.
- 24H time display sub dial.
- 12H chrono totalizator sub dial.
- 60 Min. chrono totalizator sub dial.
and the "big thing":
- 1/100 sec LCD chrono window acting as date display when chrono is not in use.
- Decorated movement.
- Satin finished Stainless Steel case.
- Size: 36x43mm (38 wide with crown).




Omega is supposed to have a prototype watch on display in the museum that was designed to use this movement. A Speedmaster model. The caliber was designated 1660 and reference 386.0815,

This is Chuck's "Lemania" branded one:


Unfortunately mine is not labelled as a Lemania, but it is the exact same model apart from that.
Dolmy was a Swiss watch trader that sold some Lemania 5100 and similar watches under their own brand.
All Dolmy badged Lemanias I have seen so far is even using Lemania dials, only with their own name inserted. This seems also to be the case with this one!
Dolmy SA was liquidated around 2005.

The design was duly patented. Drawings shows the traditional column wheel chronograph design merged together with a dual stepper motor drive system.



From an article in International Watch Magazine:

The Electronic Lémania Chronograph
The quartz and electronic movement revolution in Switzerland did not leave Lémania unaffected. In the late 1970s, Nouvelle Lémania embarked on the development of an electronic chronograph. It would be more accurate to say it embarked on the development of an elecro-mechanical movement.
The first Swiss patent application for this movement was filed in December 1981. A U. S. patent was initially applied for in 1982 but was subsequently abandoned while further development went on, and the final patent application was filed on January 2, 1985, and granted on May 13, 1986, for an “Electronic Chronograph Watch Having Analog and Digital Display of Measured Time Periods.”
In this movement, a micromotor actuated a wheel train that drove the center hour and minute hands, while another motor actuated the chronograph train that operated the chronograph sweep seconds hand, a minute register hand and an hour register hand. The movement actually had a mechanical column wheel which started and stopped the second motor by a lever, and a hammer reset the chronograph gears. Finally, there was a liquid crystal display at 12 o’clock for the reading in hundredths of a second, up to 99/100ths. When the chronograph was not running, this display showed the date.
This movement apparently never entered mass production, though the late Omega expert Chuck Maddox obtained one example. Omega even advertised one model that used this version.

 

Anders, a very interesting watch. I've not seen one before but will now keep my eyes peeled.

 

Hi
Just joined to join in on this and other threads. My name is Dave and I have been active on a few other fora for ~ 10 years now, under the names sweets and DaveS. I also moderate the small Lemania section of the ATG forums. I recognise some names here too.

Very nice catch, and a rare one too.
Well done - I had no idea such a Dolmy existed. I had always wanted to track down one of the Lemania versions myself.

But it is not quite as rare as you may think, Eberhard also used the movement for a series of their Frecce Tricolori chronographs. And it was definitely sold to the public.
There is even a white-dialled one for sale on Chrono24 right now.

Eberhard certainly had a direct route into the heart of Lemania, because along with this hybrid movement, they also used some mechanical Lemania complications that no-one else did, such as their Diascope and Mareoscope versions of the 5100, the 5195 and 5150 respectively.

Dave

 

Hi Dave!
Welcome to OF! Very nice to have another Lemania guy onboard.
I must have a closer look at those Eberhard models. Had no idea they existed.
A Lemania branded one is a wet dream. I Could actually manage with a dial. exactly the same as the Lemania owned by the late Chuck Maddox.
Cheers!

 

That might be the coolest battery powered wrist stopwatch I've ever seen.

 

+ 1 the white dial for me please...

 

Seeing the words "coolest" and "battery" in the same sentence from you must amount to something!? Is it a first?

 

hello from paris
does anyone know this watch please?
calibre lemania 181
thank you

 

i forget: IT S MILUS .
have email milus and they don t know it :-(
i think it s prototype or special watch .
serial finish by 001 .
think it s the only one on the world

 

was titan and gold
like new ( old stock ? )
need information please

 

Old thread resurrection warning!!

Some additional information to my initial article:

The movement Lemania 181 is the same as the Omega cal 1660 (only in prototype for Omega) used in the prototype Speedmaster reference 386.0815.
There have been some uncertainty related to the actual production of the Lemania cal 181 (Omega 1660). It is clear from the patent papers that the column wheel chronograph mechanism is entirely of Lemania origin, driven by an ETA quartz module.

As mentioned by @sweets, cal 181 may be found in a few Eberhard watches.
I have recently acquired one (sellers picture):



Not entirely "my design", but so unique that I just had to have one in my collection...
Look closely, and you can see the real complexity and usefulness of the movement design:
- 5100 style sweep seconds and minute hand.
- 1/100 sec display
- 24h indicator
In addition to the more conventional 12 h chronograph counter and small seconds, the date is also shown when the chronograph is not active.

Lemania caliber 185 should also be mentioned. This was another hybrid design and more widely used.
It used a chronograph module developed in cooperation with Dubois-Deparz (DD 2000), and a quartz drive module obtained from ETA.

The same chronograph module (DD 2000) was also found mated to an ETA 2892 automatic movement. The caliber designation was then referred to as Lemania 283.

Heuer enthusiasts often referer to these movements as LWO283 / LWO185 (from the markings on that movement). LWO stands for "Lemania Watch Orient", and is the Lemania caliber mark used all the way back from the 1930s.

Omega calibers 1138, 1140, 1141, 1143, 3220, 3601 and 3602 are using the same setup, with later versions of the DD 2000-series module and an ETA 2892-family movement.

More on the calibers 185/283 here: https://forums.calibre11.com/threads/tag-heuer-calibre-185-lwo-283-movement.68294/

Heuer was under the ownership of Lemania between 1982 and 1986, when it was sold on to TAG.
Lemania movements were extensively used by (TAG) Heuer during the years of ownership, and in the years following.

Cheers!

 

Very interesting, and exceedingly rare, watches. I remember how excited Chuck Maddox was about his Lemania-branded example, and of the few watches that used this rare calibre, it remains the best looking one in my opinion.

Oh, and while I'm around, hi Dave!

 

Hi Pascal,

Good to see you around

I am trying to piece together a list of watches using the cal 181.
- Lemania ref 181 (from the case back). Chuck had one. I have seen one or two others show up in auctions over the years.
- Dolmy ref 181 from my original post. Identical to the Lemania, apart from the logo on the dial.
- Eberhard ref 32003
- Omega Speedmaster ref 386.0815 (prototype only).
- Milus ?? (as listed by @fredmontaf above).

If anyone have some link or references to other watches, do feel free to chime in!

Cheers,

 

Eberhard cal 181 arrived last week.
Very happy with it. 37mm case with hinged lugs wearing exceptionally comfortable.
HAGWE!

 

I once owned the Lemania 5100 version of this watch. And I agree that its lug system makes it quite comfy on the wrist.

 

My nearest is also an Eberhard, the Diascope. It is, for me, the most useful set of complications ever assembled on a mechanical watch (the Lemania 5195).
No date, 12 hr chronograph with central seconds and minutes, running seconds and an independently settable 24-hr hand on the sub-dial at 3. Perfect.
The only problem is that the Cheftain Diascope itself is not a very legible design, the silver hands disappear on the dial.
What I would love to do is find someone to put this movement into a Lemania 817 derived case, with a suitably legible dial

 

I never owned a calibre 5195, but I did have its 5190 cousin, again from Eberhard with their Maréoscope featuring moonphase and tide indication. A completely useless complication as far as I was concerned, but I loved this watch to bits...



That's another one of my watches that I miss, though if given the chance I would probably get this complication again in their chunkier Grande Croisière chronograph that looks a bit less lost on my XXL wrist...

 

In a weird way it’s more useful than a pure moon phase complication.
Navigators could need tidal info, on the other hand I only think of moon phase display being really useful for werewolfs (and maybe poachers).

Cheers!

 

I certainly didn't mean to imply that it was a useless complication, quite the opposite in fact. It just seemed a bit incongruous for someone who, like me, lives over an hour away from the next large body of water. But as I said I loved this watch, and I feel sad that I no longer have the pleasure of glancing at its dial, even when some its information was rather pointless to me.

 

Fully agreed, and fully understood. I love a "useless complication".
Just really wanted to share the US patent on the complication.

I was not aware of the Grande Croisière chronograph version. Cool alternative!

In my list of cal 5100 derivates I have the following:

5012 21600 Automatic /Sweep sec /Sweep 60min /12h @ 6 /Day, Date /Small sec @ 9 /21600 a/h version of 5100
5100 28800 Automatic /Sweep sec /Sweep 60min /12h @ 6 /Day, Date /Small sec @ 9
5190 28800 Automatic /Sweep sec /Sweep 60min /12h @ 6 /Tidal @ 3 /Small sec @ 9
5195 28800 Automatic /Sweep sec /Sweep 60min /12h @ 6 /No Date /Small sec @ 9 /Second timzone @ 3
5200 28800 Manual wind / HW 5100
5250 21600 Manual wind / HW 5012

Anyone missing? If so I am very interested!

Cheers,