I · The Maker/II · The Object/III · The Dial/IV · Acquisition
Room I · The Maker
Movado in the 1920s and 1930s was not yet the design house of the Museum Watch era but one of the significant Swiss makers of the period: a Paris Grand Prix winner and a regular at the Neuchâtel observatory trials. This is that maker at its most jewellery-conscious: a 17-jewel, five-adjustment dress calibre in 18K white gold, a full calibré-cut sapphire bezel with a matching sapphire bow, and a dial ordered from Stern Frères of Geneva. A commissioning monogram to the case back shows it was made for someone specific.
The Object
A Movado dressed as a jewel: 18K white gold with a full calibré-cut sapphire bezel, a mother of pearl dial ordered from Stern Frères of Geneva, and a sapphire-set bow to hang it from.
This is Movado playing jeweller, made around 1928 for a specific customer whose monogram is still on the case. The body is 18K white gold, 44mm, engine-turned front and back, and it is set with sapphires wherever a stone could sit: a continuous calibré-cut border around the bezel, the same stones carried across the bow, so the watch glitters from the chain down.
The dial is where the money went. It is mother of pearl over a silver base, with applied gold Breguet-form numerals softly toned by age, dark cross-pattée hands over the silvered centre, and a pearl-dot minute track; its reverse carries the signature of Stern Frères of Geneva, and what that signature means is set out in The Dial below. In the case, the pearl shifts colour with every angle of light, which is the whole point of the material and the reason so few dials were ever made of it.
The case opens in three stages, the front bezel on its hinge, the back cover, and the cuvette onto the movement, each closing with a secure click. Behind it all is a Movado 17-jewel dress calibre adjusted to five positions, with ruby cap jewels in gold settings; it winds, sets and runs correctly, the hands moving freely and the gold crown locking positively in both positions.
The monogram on the back is the trace of the commission: this was made for someone, to an order that specified white gold, sapphires and a pearl dial from the best supplier in Geneva. A century later the stones are all present, the pearl is uncracked and undiscoloured, and the crystal is original with only minor fogging at its edge.
The marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the Stern Frères signature is set out in The Dial.
Beneath the case
Open each drawer to look closer
Mark 1
Swiss Helvetia 18K control mark
The Helvetia-head control stamp for 18K 0.750 inside the case back, with a subsidiary hallmark below.
case
gold
Mark 2
Stern Frères, 900 silver
The dial reverse signed STERN FRÈRES and stamped 900 silver, the Geneva house that dressed Patek Philippe.
dial
stern-freres
Mark 3
Art Deco monogram
A stylised block monogram in a lozenge cartouche engraved to the case back, an original commission mark.
case
monogram
Mark 4
Serial & reference
Case serial 251,235 and model reference G 2526; the sapphire bow separately 18K assay-marked.
case
serial
- AFive-adjustment dress calibreA Movado 17-jewel movement adjusted to five positions.
- BMicrometer regulatorThe A/R F/S index, Movado's mark of a properly regulated movement.
- CRuby cap jewels in goldCap jewels set in gold chatons around the balance; barrel bridge and crown wheel both signed Movado.
Case
Excellent
Clean 18K white gold surfaces throughout; the full sapphire-set bezel is intact with no missing or damaged stones, and the matching sapphire-set bow is intact.
Dialone honest fault
Very good
Mother-of-pearl chapter ring intact with natural iridescence throughout and all applied gold Arabic numerals present; the silvered centre shows light age-appropriate spotting typical of a near-century-old MOP dial. Reverse signed STERN FRÈRES and stamped 900 silver.
Movement
Excellent
Runs well, winds smoothly and sets cleanly; all ruby cap jewels present in their gold settings.
Crystal
Sound and intact, with no cracks or chips.
Crown
Excellent
Winds and sets smoothly.
44.20
This watch
25.75
€2 coin
A €2 coin is 25.75 mm. This case is more than two and a half times its area.
Room III · The Dial
A dial signed by Stern Frères
The dial's reverse is signed STERN FRÈRES and stamped 900 silver. Stern Frères of Geneva was the dial-maker Patek Philippe used through the 1920s and 1930s; the Stern family bought Patek outright in 1932. A Movado ordering its dial here, on a sterling-grade silver base under natural mother of pearl, was buying at the very top of the market, not from a trade supplier.
- Maker
- Movado
- Model
- Art Deco dress watch (ref. G 2526)
- Case
- 18K white gold
- Diameter
- 44.20mm
- Case style
- Open face
- Weight
- 45.5g total
- Bezel
- Full row of calibré-cut sapphires, channel-set
- Bow
- Matching sapphire-set (separately 18K assay-marked)
- Dial
- Mother of pearl chapter ring over 900 silver base, silvered centre with sub-seconds at 6
- Dial maker
- Stern Frères, Geneva (signed on reverse)
- Numerals
- Applied gold Arabic
- Hands
- Rose-toned cross-pattée
- Movement
- Movado 17-jewel, 5-adjustment dress calibre with micrometer regulator (A/R F/S index) and ruby cap jewels in gold settings
- Signed
- Movado (dial, barrel bridge, crown wheel); Stern Frères (dial reverse)
- Case marks
- Swiss Helvetia head control mark 18K 0.750, subsidiary hallmark, case serial 251,235, model reference G 2526
- Dial marks
- 900 silver, STERN FRÈRES
- Case back
- Engraved Art Deco monogram in lozenge cartouche
- Country
- Switzerland
- Estimated date
- C.1928
The Estate Collection
Room IV · Acquisition
€14.850
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Movado
€14.850
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