Lanco - Small seconds - No reserve price - Men - 1950-1959

Lanco 15 Jewels – Vintage Swiss Mechanical Men’s Watch – Gold Plated – Small Seconds – circa 1945–1955

An elegant vintage Lanco Swiss mechanical men’s watch, dating approximately from 1945–1955, featuring a classic hand-wound 15-jewel Lanco movement, subsidiary seconds and characteristic mid-century Swiss styling.
The watch has a 28.5 mm gold-plated case, acrylic crystal and an attractive aged silver/champagne dial. Applied Arabic numerals, slender gold-tone hands and the small-seconds register at 6 o’clock create a balanced design typical of Swiss watches produced during the 1940s and early 1950s.
The dial is signed LANCO – 15 JEWELS – SWISS MADE, while the movement itself is clearly signed LANCO – 15 JEWELS – SWISS MADE, confirming the branded Swiss mechanical movement inside the watch.

Case
• Material: Gold plated
• Diameter: 28.5 mm, excluding crown
• Crystal: Acrylic
• Case Back: Stainless steel
• Design: Round case with elongated, tapered lugs
The relatively compact diameter is entirely consistent with men’s watches of this period, while the long sculpted lugs give the watch additional presence on the wrist.

Dial
• Color: Aged silver / champagne
• Applied Arabic numeral hour markers
• Gold-tone hour and minute hands
• Outer minute track
• Subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock
• Signed Lanco
• 15 JEWELS
• SWISS MADE
The dial displays a beautiful and clearly visible natural vintage patina, with spotting and tonal variation developed through age. Rather than appearing artificially restored, it retains the unmistakable character of a watch that has survived for approximately eight decades.

Movement
• Type: Swiss mechanical
• Winding: Manual / hand-wound
• Jewels: 15 jewels
• Movement signed: LANCO – 15 JEWELS – SWISS MADE
• Functions: Hours, minutes and subsidiary seconds
The photographs of the opened watch provide an important additional detail: this is not simply a Lanco-signed dial fitted to an unidentified movement—the mechanical calibre itself carries the LANCO signature.

Functions
• Hours
• Minutes
• Small seconds / subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock
• Manual winding

Case Back
The inner case back is marked:
STAINLESS STEEL BACK
SWISS MADE
This indicates the typical period construction combining a gold-plated case with a durable stainless-steel case back.

Strap
• Material: Textile
• Color: Grey / khaki
• Style: Braided / woven
• Width: approx. 17–18 mm
• Strap: Generic

Water Resistance: Not tested for water.

Condition Grade: B
The watch is presented in authentic vintage condition with visible signs of age and previous use.
The gold-plated case shows wear and areas of plating loss, particularly around the case edges and lugs. The dial displays significant but attractive natural ageing, spotting and patina consistent with its age.
The acrylic crystal and case show normal vintage wear. Please examine the photographs carefully, as they form an integral part of the condition description.

Accessories: Delivered with generic presentation box.

The Story
This Lanco represents an interesting chapter of traditional Swiss watchmaking from the mid-20th century, when compact hand-wound watches with subsidiary seconds were the standard for a gentleman’s everyday wristwatch.
Lanco was the watch brand associated with Langendorf Watch Company, one of the historic names of Swiss industrial watchmaking. The company originated in Langendorf, Switzerland, and became known for producing reliable mechanical watches on a substantial scale.
What gives this particular example additional collector interest is the coherence of its period construction. The dial is prominently signed Lanco 15 Jewels, and opening the watch reveals a mechanical movement carrying the same LANCO – 15 JEWELS – SWISS MADE signature.
The small-seconds register at 6 o’clock, applied Arabic numerals, elongated lugs and restrained proportions place the design firmly within the aesthetic language of the 1940s–1950s.
Its patina is also an important part of its personality. The dial has not remained clinically perfect; instead, decades of ageing have produced the warm, uneven champagne tone that gives the watch its unmistakably vintage appearance.
A compact mechanical Lanco with a signed 15-jewel movement, subsidiary seconds and strong period character, this is a particularly appealing piece for collectors interested in authentic Swiss watches from the immediate post-war era.
Internal Reference Number: ABA 73