ABOUT THIS WATCH

Before Movado was a $200 million publicly traded minimalist fashion conglomerate, they were a highly respected watchmaker producing pieces with innovative in-house movements and spectacularly beautiful and utilitarian dial designs. This Sub Sea from the 1960s featuring a brushed silver telemeter snail dial is the epitome of what were some of the best watches in the horological world, but is still grossly undervalued when compared to say a Patek 1463.

Although not quite as rare as a stainless steel 1463, this Movado is still a very rare watch especially with this dial configuration. And while Patek used a version of the Valjoux 23 movement in their watch, Movado had been using their own movement for decades which is what you will find with the M95 inside of this Sub Sea. One notable characteristic they do have in common is both “waterproof” cases are made by the famed Swiss casemaker Francois Borgel and both share the exact same crown design. So what you’re getting with this Movado is a gorgeous & unique chronograph with a historically important case & movement for only about 2% of the price of a Patek 1463.

It’s extremely hard to find these watches in perfect condition or even close to it. The dial of this watch has a slight blemish around the 600 tachymeter mark as well as a slight bump around the 200 tachymeter mark, which you can only see at various angles of light. I was told that the bump was caused by a watchmaker tightening the set screw too tightly causing the dial foot underneath to push the dial up (Moral of this story, find yourself a competent watchmaker). Also, part of the lume of the minute hand is missing, but this is extremely hard to see because of the silver dial. Fortunately all the lume dots are intact, albeit a couple only partially. Lastly, there is a small gash on the crown. All of these imperfections are already reflected in the price I’ve set.

Despite these minor cosmetic scars, I would say this watch is in overall excellent and fully original condition both inside and out, especially when you compare it to similar watches of the same age. Although I still consider these Movados undervalued for what you get, they have been increasing in value tremendously over the last few years as more budding vintage collectors are learning about them. So don’t do what you always do and not buy this because you saw it for much less just two years ago. Two years from now you’ll be kicking yourself and telling all your watch buddies you could’ve bought an amazing one with a snail dial for ONLY $8.5k!

WATCH SPECS

Brand: Movado 
Model: Sub Sea
Reference: 19068 
Year: 1960s 
Material: Stainless steel Francois Borgel case 
Dimensions: 35.5mm diameter, 11.5mm thickness w/ crystal
Crystal: Acrylic
Lume: Tritium. Most lume dots fully intact. Minute hand missing some. 
Caliber: Movado M95 manual winding movement
Bracelet/Strap: Tan grained leather strap from S.Song
Lug Width: 18mm