1970's Sicura Digital 'Jump-Hour' Watch
Sicura Digital - Chrome D500 948142.
Made by Sicura, Switzerland. Horizontal Integration Timepiece with 17-jewel Baumgartner BFG866 manual wind movement. Stainless Steel casing with blue dial. Measures 38mm x 43mm. Modern black leather strap. Condition: Excellent working example. Minor scratches to steel and glass.
Jump-hour watches show the time as numbers within windows/apertures rather than a tradition hand dial. The jump-hour movement was invented in the 1880s but gained traction during the art deco period of the 1930s by Cartier and Rolex.But it was in the 1970s that they were popularised by brands such as Sicura.
Popularity is surging for this iconic Sicura 'digital’ watch (so called because it has digits, not to be mistaken for electronic) as a piece of outstanding 1970’s design. The hours are shown in an aperture at the 9 o’clock position, the minutes as a rotating dial in a half-moon aperture at the 12 o’clock position and the day of the month in an aperture at the 3 o’clock position. At the centre, there is a unique propeller-style second hand. The stainless steel case is beautifully bevelled to give a modern machined appearance. The dial is a dark blue but was also sold in red.
Arising from a 1930’s watch maker 1939, the company became ‘Sicura’ in the 1950s. By the 1970s, Sicura was a world leader in affordable watches that followed the latest trends - popularising digital and jump-hour watches.
It is often (incorrectly) stated that Sicura were a part / sub-brand of Breitling. Whilst they were eventually owned by the same man, they operated separately. Sicura was created by ex-fighter pilot Ernest Schneider who, around the time this watch was produced, bought the brand rights to Breitling when the Quartz Crisis of 1978 forced Brietling to cease operations and sell off the company. Schneider brought new life into Breitling and remained their president until he died in 2015, age 94. The iconic Breitling brand owes its existence to the success of the Sicura brand in the 1970s.
Sicura Digital - Chrome D500 948142.
Made by Sicura, Switzerland. Horizontal Integration Timepiece with 17-jewel Baumgartner BFG866 manual wind movement. Stainless Steel casing with blue dial. Measures 38mm x 43mm. Modern black leather strap. Condition: Excellent working example. Minor scratches to steel and glass.
Jump-hour watches show the time as numbers within windows/apertures rather than a tradition hand dial. The jump-hour movement was invented in the 1880s but gained traction during the art deco period of the 1930s by Cartier and Rolex.But it was in the 1970s that they were popularised by brands such as Sicura.
Popularity is surging for this iconic Sicura 'digital’ watch (so called because it has digits, not to be mistaken for electronic) as a piece of outstanding 1970’s design. The hours are shown in an aperture at the 9 o’clock position, the minutes as a rotating dial in a half-moon aperture at the 12 o’clock position and the day of the month in an aperture at the 3 o’clock position. At the centre, there is a unique propeller-style second hand. The stainless steel case is beautifully bevelled to give a modern machined appearance. The dial is a dark blue but was also sold in red.
Arising from a 1930’s watch maker 1939, the company became ‘Sicura’ in the 1950s. By the 1970s, Sicura was a world leader in affordable watches that followed the latest trends - popularising digital and jump-hour watches.
It is often (incorrectly) stated that Sicura were a part / sub-brand of Breitling. Whilst they were eventually owned by the same man, they operated separately. Sicura was created by ex-fighter pilot Ernest Schneider who, around the time this watch was produced, bought the brand rights to Breitling when the Quartz Crisis of 1978 forced Brietling to cease operations and sell off the company. Schneider brought new life into Breitling and remained their president until he died in 2015, age 94. The iconic Breitling brand owes its existence to the success of the Sicura brand in the 1970s.
Sicura Digital - Chrome D500 948142.
Made by Sicura, Switzerland. Horizontal Integration Timepiece with 17-jewel Baumgartner BFG866 manual wind movement. Stainless Steel casing with blue dial. Measures 38mm x 43mm. Modern black leather strap. Condition: Excellent working example. Minor scratches to steel and glass.
Jump-hour watches show the time as numbers within windows/apertures rather than a tradition hand dial. The jump-hour movement was invented in the 1880s but gained traction during the art deco period of the 1930s by Cartier and Rolex.But it was in the 1970s that they were popularised by brands such as Sicura.
Popularity is surging for this iconic Sicura 'digital’ watch (so called because it has digits, not to be mistaken for electronic) as a piece of outstanding 1970’s design. The hours are shown in an aperture at the 9 o’clock position, the minutes as a rotating dial in a half-moon aperture at the 12 o’clock position and the day of the month in an aperture at the 3 o’clock position. At the centre, there is a unique propeller-style second hand. The stainless steel case is beautifully bevelled to give a modern machined appearance. The dial is a dark blue but was also sold in red.
Arising from a 1930’s watch maker 1939, the company became ‘Sicura’ in the 1950s. By the 1970s, Sicura was a world leader in affordable watches that followed the latest trends - popularising digital and jump-hour watches.
It is often (incorrectly) stated that Sicura were a part / sub-brand of Breitling. Whilst they were eventually owned by the same man, they operated separately. Sicura was created by ex-fighter pilot Ernest Schneider who, around the time this watch was produced, bought the brand rights to Breitling when the Quartz Crisis of 1978 forced Brietling to cease operations and sell off the company. Schneider brought new life into Breitling and remained their president until he died in 2015, age 94. The iconic Breitling brand owes its existence to the success of the Sicura brand in the 1970s.