ABOUT THIS WATCH

Among the great American watch companies in history such as Hamilton, Elgin, Gruen & Benrus, the Waltham Watch Co. produced over 40 million clocks, watches & railroad chronometers from the mid 1800s until it ultimately met it’s demise in 1957, selling off all of it’s assets as a consumer watch business to focus only on commercial precision instruments. Its subsidiary, Waltham International SA in Switzerland, retained the rights to the Waltham trade name outside of the US and continues to produce mechanical wristwatches today under the Waltham brand. This watch was one of the first to be sold under the Swiss subsidiary, but it wasn’t produced by Waltham at all. It was actually produced by Blancpain.

Coming off it’s success from creating what is now known as the first iteration of the modern dive watch with the legendary Fifty Fathoms, Blancpain’s next development was the Bathyscaphe which was intended to be a dive watch that would also be ideal for everyday wear due to it’s smaller size while evoking a similar design. Like many other big name producers, Blancpain provided the Bathyscaphe for other brands to sell as “private label” watches, including this Waltham which is among the most prominent versions you’ll find of this watch. While original Bathyscaphes with the Blancpain name on it can command premiums upwards of $10k from collectors, you can have the exact same watch with the Waltham name for less than 1/3 of the price.

For what is considered a tool watch from the 50s, I would say this Bathyscaphe is in pretty good condition. The bakelite bezel is in nice shape with only small cracks at 36 and 60 and the dial, despite evidence of moisture ingress and radium dust, maintains its glossy appearance and nice original custard lume. The original hands match the dial perfectly as well, while the case is also in very nice shape with pretty much all of its nickel plating intact which is rare in a watch this old. Having just recently been serviced, it is keeping time as well as any watch from 1959 should and is ready to find its new home.

WATCH SPECS

Brand: Waltham
Model: Bathyscaphe
Reference: MC4
Year: 1959
Material: Nickel plated steel, stainless steel caseback
Dimensions: 34mm diameter, 12mm thickness w/ crystal
Crystal: Acrylic
Lume: Radium 
Caliber: A. Schild calibre 1187/94 manual wind movement
Bracelet/Strap: Vintage brown leather pass-through strap
Lug Width: 19mm 

Note: No guarantees of water resistance because of its age