Lucerne
Lucerne Digital
A straightforward 1970s Lucerne mechanical digital with plenty of visible history.
- Movement
- Swiss manual-wind mechanical
- Year
- 1970s
- Case
- Steel-tone
- Condition
- Fair
- Gender
- Men / Unisex
Condition
The watch shows considerable aging. The cream dial has marks and deterioration, and the case shows wear and scratches. The hour and minute display remains legible.
Why I bought it
Part of what I enjoy about collecting jumping hours is seeing how many variations were produced around the same basic mechanism. This Lucerne is one of the simpler versions, and I liked its large 1970s case and very direct display.
Lucerne was one of several Swiss names that produced mechanical digital watches during the 1970s, often using relatively simple movements inside cases that were anything but conventional.
This example strips the concept down almost completely. There are no hands or traditional hour markers. A square aperture displays the hour and the adjacent rotating disc displays the minutes, leaving most of the cream dial empty.
This particular watch has clearly been used. The dial has marks and deterioration and the case carries its share of wear. I prefer to leave a watch like this as it is rather than try to make it look new. It is an affordable piece from an interesting period of Swiss watch design and another variation on the jumping-hour format.