Please consider donating to help offset our high running costs.
I can't believe it took me almost two years to realize that the "strange ding" on my Cosmic is in fact a Portuguese import tax hallmark, aka the armadillo. The chap who sold me the watch was from... Portugal... and still I didn't put two and two together until today 🤦
why did they ding the watch?
It was to mark that the import tax had been paid on a particular watch. A Portuguese tax officer could easily spot a watch with or with-out the hallmark ding and then act accordingly.
"Watches imported into Portugal from 1938 to 1985 were stamped with a distinctive hallmark (marca de contraste or just contraste) depending on the case metal. The law regulating the hallmarks actually dates from 1932 but it was only fully implemented in 1938. These hallmarks were applied manually, via a stamp (punção), during the importation process, at one of the regional Assay Offices (Contrastarias), which operated at the National Mint."
https://www.watchfreeks.com/attachments/portuguese-hallmarks-pdf.135238/