We have here a rare Lator chronograph dive watch from the early-mid 1960s.  We love the matte black dial with the mixture of lumed, Arabic numerals and arrow markers, which helps with readability.   Outer mintue tracking sits along with the tachymeter scale.  Two subsidiary dials sit at 3 at 9 o'clock, a 45-minute recorder and sub seconds, respectively.  Lumed, stick hands give that added contrast, along with the lumed, arrow pointer on the chronograph hand.

The uni-directional, count-up, coin-edge, stainless steel bezel is rarer than the alternative black-bezelled model, and in our opinion, much nicer.  It makes the watch feel less bulky, which with a 13mm profile, is hard to achieve, and makes the watch flow from dial to case nicely.

The 37mm, stainless steel case, with screw-down crow and two pushers, is a comfortable wear.  Inside is the mechanical manual wind Landeron caliber 248, fully serviced by us and running strongly.  We've paired this watch on a grey suede strap to push it into the 'everyday watch' category, but it looks dressed up on leather or even with a sporty makeover on rubber.

Extra Points 

Lator was first registered by Gilbert Schaldenbrand fils of Neuchâtel in 1951.  Two years later, Gilbert Schaldenbrand, who is also associated with Eros Watch Co., and his son, Marius, merged their separate watchmaking companies to form Fabrique d'horlogerie Florimont S. A. (Florimont Watch Limited) as Gilbert was retiring.  By 1966, Florimont sold their 'Lator' and 'Latora' brands to a watch wholesaler, E. Gunzinger & Cie of Neuchâtel.  This company faced financial difficulties with the onset of the quartz crisis and was liquidated in 1983.

This watch comes fully serviced by our on-site workshop and with a 12 month, non-waterproof service cover.

Spec Stuff