Lemania - 1950-1959

This is a refined vintage Lemania rattrapante (split-seconds) pocket chronograph. This kind of instrument was widely used in the mid-20th century for sporting, military, and industrial timing due to its high precision.

Rattrapante (split-seconds) function: It features two large overlapping central hands. Pressing the crown button starts them together; pressing the left side button (at 11 o'clock) stops one of the two hands to record an intermediate time, while the other continues to run. A second press of the left side button instantly "re-engages" the stopped hand with the moving one.

Dial configuration: The main dial is graduated up to 30 seconds with large black Arabic numerals from 1 to 10 and smaller outer markers. It also features a register for the elapsed minutes (up to 15 or 30 minutes depending on the exact version of the caliber) located at the top.

Mechanism: Inside, it most likely houses the renowned Swiss hand-wound Lemania Caliber 1130 movement (or related variants such as 1131), a caliber with chronograph function switching via a column wheel, highly sought after by collectors for its mechanical complexity.