I · The Maker/II · The Object/III · The Face/IV · The Dial/V · 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.
Calibré-cut sapphires around the bezel and bow
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, plain polished 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 mother of pearl over a silver base, with applied gold Art Deco Arabic 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.
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 with five adjustments and its jewels in gold chatons; 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 shows 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.
Room III · The Face
Reading the dial · tap a number
- 1Mother of pearlA chapter ring cut from natural nacre, intact, with the full iridescent rainbow shift that shows in raking light.
- 2Applied gold numeralsApplied gold Arabics, solid cut-outs set proud of the mother of pearl, all present.
- 3Silvered sunk centreA silvered sunk centre signed MOVADO, with light, age-appropriate spotting.
- 4Cross-pattée handsRose-toned hands, each with a cross-pattée motif near the tip.
- 5Sub-seconds at sixA sub-seconds register at six with a smaller matching hand.
- 6Sapphire bezelA full continuous row of calibré-cut blue sapphires, channel-set edge-to-edge around the bezel, every stone present and secure.
- 7Matching bowThe bow is set with sapphires to match the bezel, and carries its own mark.
Beneath the case
Open each drawer to look closer
Mark 1
18K 0,750 and Helvetia head
Inside the case back, a hand holding a watch over 18K and 0,750, with the small Helvetia head, the Swiss 18K control mark, below.
case
gold
Mark 2
Art Deco monogram
A stylised AN monogram in gold, reserved on a black lozenge on the case back.
case
monogram
Mark 3
Serial & reference
Case serial 251,235 and model reference G 2526.
case
serial
- AFive-adjustment dress calibreA Movado 17-jewel movement, engraved for five adjustments.
- BMicrometer regulatorA screw-adjusted regulator with a bilingual A/R and F/S index.
- CRubies in gold chatonsTrain jewels in screwed gold chatons and a capped balance jewel in a gold setting; MOVADO signed on the barrel bridge.
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.
Dial
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 jewels present in their gold chatons.
Crystal
Very good
Sound and intact, with no cracks or chips; minor fogging at the edge.
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 IV · 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
- Bezel
- Full row of calibré-cut sapphires, channel-set
- Bow
- Matching sapphire-set, separately 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 jewels in gold chatons
- Signed
- Movado (dial, barrel bridge); Stern Frères (dial reverse)
- Case marks
- Hand holding a watch over 18K 0,750, small Helvetia head 18K control mark, case serial 251,235, model reference G 2526
- Dial marks
- 900 silver, STERN FRÈRES
- Case back
- Art Deco AN monogram in gold on a black lozenge
- Country
- Switzerland
- Estimated date
- C.1928
The Estate Collection
Room V · Acquisition
€14.850
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Movado
€14.850
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The Sapphire Movado
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