Waltham Automatic | 17 Jewels

This Waltham comes from the 1970s period when disc-display watches were being produced in a wide range of shapes, colors and price levels.

The layout is typical of the period, with the hour displayed in a rectangular aperture and the minutes read from a rotating disc beside it. The rest of the dial is deliberately sparse, carrying only the Waltham name, “Automatic” and “17”.

At 43 × 36.5 mm, the oval case is quite large for a vintage watch. It is stainless steel with a bronze-tone plated finish that has developed visible wear and tarnishing over the years.

The watch is Swiss made and uses a 17-jewel automatic movement. The exact caliber has not yet been identified, so I prefer to leave that attribution open rather than guess from the external appearance.

The watch is currently running, although it has not been tested for accuracy. The gold-tone bracelet fitted to it is aftermarket and is not the original bracelet.

Waltham has a complicated history by this period. The original American Waltham Watch Company had ceased traditional watch production, while the Waltham name continued to appear on Swiss-made watches. This example belongs to that later Swiss chapter of the Waltham story rather than to the classic American Waltham manufacture.

I found the watch in an eBay auction in 2026 and won it. Apart from adding another 1970s automatic jumping hour to the collection, it also became my first Waltham.