Cronel 17 Jewels Manual Wind

Reference: Unknown Crystal: Acrylic Dial: Blue dial with applied baton hour markers, gold-tone hands and framed date window at 6 o'clock. Signed Cronel, 17 Jewels, Shockprotected, Waterresistant and Swiss Made. Functions: Hours, minutes and central seconds; Date Strap: Black leather strap

This is exactly the kind of inexpensive 1970s watch that I love.

Cronel was a relatively obscure Swiss name associated with Stroun Frères and Camy, and this is a simple 17-jewel manual-wind watch with a date at 6. Mechanically there is nothing particularly exotic about it. The attraction is almost entirely in the design.

And what a case it is.

The relatively small blue dial sits inside an enormous oval case, surrounded by a huge expanse of radially brushed metal. It is completely disproportionate in the best possible way, the sort of design that could only have come from the experimental mood of the 1970s.

On the wrist, the oversized case becomes the watch. The little blue dial almost looks like an instrument mounted inside a much larger piece of industrial design, while the gold-tone markers and hands give it just enough contrast.

What makes this example particularly special is its condition. It is New Old Stock, essentially a surviving unworn example of one of those wonderfully strange designs produced by the smaller Swiss manufacturers during the period.

It isn't valuable, prestigious or mechanically sophisticated, and that's really beside the point. Watches like this are one of the reasons I enjoy collecting vintage pieces: sometimes an obscure and inexpensive watch can have more personality than something worth a hundred times as much.