I acquired this in a treasure box full of mostly broken watches at an antique store. Its from the early 20s probably right after WWI, when it became acceptable fashion for men to wear wrist watches. It's a Radiolite, referring to the radium dial paint. The similarity to pocket watches is unmistakable. The strap is original I'm curious, do any of you have anything in a similar style from the era?
No they are for the "pin set" for setting the hands, you push them with your fingernail and can then adjust the hands. The cases are late versions of the WW1 Borgel waterproof case and the crown is held in place with a spring to help with waterproofing so the hands need to be set this way. It used to be very common to set the hands like this before stem set superseded it. Here is an ad for this Helvetia shock and water protected watch from a 1931 catalogue.
Looks more 1930s, no? May I ask how you were able to date it? I have a few Tavannes and would be interested in their production dates.
I thought I had a couple more but turns out that they are either from the teens or the thirties. The two I do have are both Hamiltons and both from 1929, a Piping Rock and a Perry. Honestly, if I had to pick just two wrist watches, these might be it. The Perry is a great everyday watch and the Piping Rock is just about a perfect dress watch.
A Gothic Jar Proof. Was in some old stuff my mother had collected. Belonged to either a great aunt or else my great grandfather. No way to know for sure now. Has a 15-jewel Swiss movement in it. Haven't bothered to restore it.