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True grail, fine and rare 35.5mm stainless steel “Technicum du Locle” school wristwatch, powered by the iconic Peseux 260 chronometer movement No. 4098, made circa 1955.
This watch is a dream in the collecting community. The Peseux 260 is generally considered one of the finest time-only chronometer movements of the 20th century, performing admirably in the observatory trial competitions throughout Switzerland. While rare in any wristwatch, those Peseux 260s that have surfaced over the years have typically been found in watches created by LeRoy, DuBois, Beba, and other similar makers, even Breguet. Examples of the caliber were produced for the express purpose of timing trials use, serving as a base which several manufactures chose to modify for their entries.
I had few different Peseux 260 movements and watches, what drew me to this specific iteration of the P260, was the large ultra sharp untouched case with long lugs and spotless dial, features a beautiful guilloche-type of pattern are making this a truly wearable piece of watchmaking education history.
It is a watch that is worthy of the moniker “grail.” An opportunity to acquire any Peseux 260 is special, but the chance to acquire a possibly-unique stainless steel Technicum Neuchâteloise Le Locle school watch with original large case and flawless dial, powered by the legendary Peseux 260 is perhaps once in a lifetime.
Back when the development of observatory chronometers and occurrence of precision timing competitions in Geneve and Neuchatel were in effect, the Peseux 260 was introduced purely for research purposes. This ebauche made by Peseux S.A. was made exclusively for the Observatory Competitions and supplied to a number of different independent and high-end manufactures as a starting point for their competition entries. Because of this, it is said that watches bearing the Peseux 260 were never made available to the public consumer, so over the period of 23 years Peseux produced a little over 3300 movements.
Watch is in overall very good 9/10 condition, running and ready to wear!