formida - Classic Chronograph - Unisex - 1940

superbe vintage chronograph watch Formida, Swiss model dating from 1940. Formida was a reputable brand for its chronographs, and its watches with complications. Often powered by high-quality Swiss movements like those from the Pierre Nicolet manufacture (Tramelan), Swiss city. The mechanism is a Landeron 48 caliber. The back of this chrono is in 9K gold, but with some wear, given its age of 86 years.
It has two counters (bi-compax) with the antimagnetic inscription. Its design features scales, tachymetric on the bezel. This chronograph is highly sought after by collectors for its vintage aesthetics and its importance in the history of Swiss watchmaking. Unlike modern chronographs, the top button is often only to start, while the bottom one is to stop and to reset to zero.
It's a very reliable hand-wound movement, and very easy to service, because spare parts are available from specialist watchmakers. Bi-compax: the two-counter layout is typical. The left counter is the small seconds (the time passing) and the right one is the minute totalizer for the chronograph, which is 45 minutes. Look at the fine numbers on the outer edge. It once allowed measuring a distance (based on sound, like a flash) or an average speed over a given distance. The antimagnetic inscription indicates that this watch was designed to resist magnetic fields, a major innovation at the time to guarantee precision. Like all watches of that era, it is not water resistant.
Wind my chrono every morning until you feel a definite resistance. Like all mechanical watches, never wind the mechanism to the very end, as you can permanently lock your watch.
Dimensions: 3.7 cm with the crown (or winding crown); the dial is 3.5 cm, thickness 0.5 cm. Its weight is 45 grams. It is a chrono from my collection. It works perfectly, to the second, with the time on my computer.