Raymond Frères - Valjoux 5KVM - 1900-1949

Beautiful early 20th-century Swiss mechanical pocket watch chronograph, estimated to date from approximately 1915–1925, housed in an Argentan (maillechort/nickel silver) case manufactured by Frainier of Morteau, France.

The watch features an attractive white enamel dial with black Arabic numerals, a central chronograph seconds hand, a 30-minute register at 12 o'clock and subsidiary seconds at 6 o'clock. The dial is surrounded by several concentric scales, including the distinctive “KILOMÈTRES À L'HEURE” tachymeter scale, allowing the user to determine speed over a measured distance.

The watch is fitted with a manual-winding Swiss mechanical chronograph movement, with a column-wheel architecture visually corresponding to the Reymond Frères / Valjoux 5 KVM family. The movement is currently running and the chronograph functions.

The case bears the Frainier maker's identification. Frainier was a historic manufacturer of watch cases based in Morteau, in the Doubs region of France, an important centre of the French watchmaking industry close to the Swiss Jura. The case is made of Argentan and is not solid silver. It has the traditional multi-cover construction used to protect the movement.

A particularly interesting feature is the original French tachymeter instruction disc preserved inside the case, entitled “Manière de se servir du cadran tachymètre”. It explains how to use the tachymeter scale to calculate speed in kilometres per hour. This original period accessory gives the watch an especially interesting historical character.

The watch is accompanied by its pocket-watch chain with clasp, as well as two historical Frainier postcards/documents relating to the Morteau manufacture.

The watch has been preserved in authentic antique condition, with natural patina and signs of age consistent with a watch of this period. It is currently running and functioning, although no guarantee of long-term accuracy is given for an antique mechanical movement.

A very attractive collector's piece combining Swiss chronograph watchmaking, French Morteau case-making and an original tachymeter system, complete with its chain, period instructions and historical Frainier material.