Watch Description
Brand: Movado
Series: Kingmatic
Ref. No.: MovadA
Gender: Men
Condition: Preowned
Warranty: Expired
Movement: Automatic
Power Reserve: Not TestedA
Bezel: Fixed
Serial Number: Inside backcase
Case Material: Stainless Steel
Case Diameter: 38mm w/o Crown
Case Thickness: 14.8mm
Crown: Pull-Out
Crystal Material: Sapphire
Dial: Black Chrono
Dial Numerals: White Arabic
Back-Case: Stainless Steel
Bracelet Material: Black Leather
Clasp: 2 Deployment
Buckle Material: Stainless Steel
Water Resistance: 30 Meter
Price: RM3,500 NEGOTIABLE
THE BRIEF HISTORY OF MOVADO WATCHES
Movado, a company whose name means "always in motion" in Esperanto, began its life in 1881 in a small workshop in La Chaux-de-faunds, Switzerland. Founded by talented watchmaker Achille Ditisheim and his team of six employees, all watches were manufactured and assembled by hand.
By 1899, their hard work and determination had paid off. They were awarded six first-class Official Rating Certificates in their class, and in the following year, they were awarded the Silver Medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.
By 1905, the company had settled on its now famous name, Movado, and began in earnest its now famous pursuit of excellence in design and function. They won the 1910 Grand Prix Exhibitions in Paris, Rome, Brussels and Rio de Janeiro for their introduction of 8 ligne wristwatch movements. The introduction of the Polyplan watch in 1912 took the watch community by storm, and these watches are highly sought after at auction today.
In 1947, American designer Nathan George Horwitt created the first Museum Watch. It featured an uncluttered dial, with a simple gold dot marker at the 12:00 position. He likened the design to that of a sun-dial, like recognizing the sun at its zenith at high noon.
The black Museum Watch was already well known, and the company expanded the line to include dozens of variants. There were at least 24 different watches being sold under the name Movado Museum Watch in 1986, and some of these were a far cry from the gaunt simplicity of Horwitt's original design. One watch even had numbers on the dial, and it was ringed with diamonds. The name "Museum Watch" had a certain cachet that the company's advertising exploited as well as it could. The Museum of Modern Art, which displayed the original Horwitt watch, even put up a disclaimer in 1984, noting that "the Movado watch is not a Museum of Art watch, nor is there any connection between the Museum of Modern Art and the Movado Watch Corporation." Sol Flick, a lawyer for North American Watch countered that the "museum" in "Museum Watch" might refer to any museum. "It could be the Museum of Natural History," he said in a November 1986 Consumer Reports article.
Movado later teamed up with designers and artists such as Andy Warhol to create one-of-a-kind limited edition watches, which reside in museums, galleries, and collections today.
Movado is returning to its roots today. It has re-introduced the KingMatic series, which was originally introduced in the 1950's, and featured the first automatic movement and sweeping second hand, both driven from a central rotor. Today, the KingMatic features an all stainless steel case, stainless steel or leather bracelet, sapphire crystal, automatic movement, chronograph and is water resistant to 50 meters.
Hi, Jack.
ReplyDeleteDid you have the Movado Kingmatic watch available? How much is it?
Thank you.
M.H.Lee