The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2022 - Issue 31

bitemen E ighty years ago, Angelus, one of the oldest watch- making brands established in Switzerland, launched the world’s first series chronograph with a calendar. The Chronodate equipped with a 32.8 mm calibre SF217 is derived from the SF215 launched earlier in the year. It has 17 or 19 jewels with a 45-minute counter and the date indicated by a central hand pointing to a chapter ring on the periphery of the dial. The day and month are respectively dis- played in the windows at 6 and 12 o’clock. The brainchild of brothers Albert and Gustav Stolz, distin- guished watchmakers and former students of Henri San- doz, director of the Tavannes Watch Company; Angelus was founded in 1881. After third brother Charles joined the com- pany in 1898, they won various awards such as gold medals at the International Exposition and the Grand Diplôme d’Hon- neur (Grand Diploma of Honour) and began making com- plicated movements, including repeaters and chronographs. During the First World War, Angelus’ developments were affected. Still, they managed to create a repeater timepiece in 1914 for visually impaired people offered to soldiers re- turning from the war who had suffered severe facial injuries. The repeaters started to decline in popularity six years later when luminescent radium-based materials creating glow-in- the-dark indications came to the market. Instead, Angelus diversified its production with alarm watches, and alarm and repeater table clocks. It began producing timepieces for the Hungarian Air Force in the late 1940s. Hungary had been banned from having a military air force by the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, so the Royal Hungarian Air Force covertly ran a civilian flying club. By the 1930s, L.E. (Légi Ero), meaning Air Force in English, was officially established and recognised. During the Sec- ond World War, the Air Force fought against the Soviets af- ter Hungary declared war on Russia in 1941 following the Košice bombing raid. Angelus achieved several other cutting-edge innovations such as the waterproof 40 mm sports watch in 1944; Multi- tude, an alarm travel clock featuring the date and world time in 1947; and a date window display for automatic winding that enabled thinner watches in 1954. However, in the 1970s, they and other prestigious Swiss watch brands succumbed to the quartz crisis that saw quartz watches replace mechanical watches. In 2011, Angelus was revived by Manufacture La Joux-Perret SA in La Chaux-de-Fonds. Today, the Chronodate is considered a collector’s item, with many in pristine condition. To celebrate this renowned time- piece, Angelus has revamped it with a contemporary new look in titanium and 18-karat 5N red gold called the Angelus Chronodate Editions. It fuses Angelus’ modern-day expres- sive watchmaking with its famous complicated watches from the early 1940s. Thus, the three limited series of 25 pieces are inspired by historic Angelus references and the sleek open- work lines of its recent pieces. The 42.5 mm case contains a bicompax automatic chrono- graph movement encircled by a peripheral date and sits with- in a container made of light and rigid carbon composite. The chronograph’s push-pieces and the ring inserted between the case’s centre and the bezel are also cut from this matt black material. Its complex case has six components that bring the case middle and lugs into a single line and house the bezel marked with twelve notches with an ensemble available in titanium or red gold. It has a large-diameter crown that extends beyond its casing and features a rubber band in its centre for easier handling. From the 1940s to the 1960s, Angelus’ chronograph watches had small diameters, but the counters on the dial stood out as they were enormous and legible. In the same vein, today’s Chronodate dials are imposing, structured and three-dimen- sional. You will admire the counters and applied Arabic nu- merals placed on matt dials, like frosted glass. The titanium case features an opaline white or blue PVD dial, while the red gold case only has a blue PVD dial. They are equipped with the latest A500 calibre made by La Joux-Per- ret, covered in sapphire crystal and reworked to show the pointer date through the central hand, like the original. The bicompax displays the small seconds at 9 o’clock and a 30-minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock, while a hand encircles the dial and sweeps over the peripheral date display. Around the dial is a sloped black minutes track and the trademark date ring on the perimeter. The applied hour in- dices are filled with white Super-Luminova, and the Angelus logo in titanium or red gold is sealed by hand with black lac- quer. The pointer date indicator is marked with a red trian- gular-tipped hand and the central chronograph second hand also has a red tip. The watch comes with a black or blue textile strap with a folding clasp in titanium or titanium and gold. Angelus Chronodate Editions and other timepieces can be found online and at retailers in Europe, the United States, and Asia. https://angelus-watches.com Images courtesy of Angelus