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Wakmann Triple Date Chronograph — Ref. 72.1309.70
Swiss made, circa late 1960s. I serviced this one myself. Timegrapher results are in the photos.
The watch
Wakmann was a New York company with close Breitling ties, and their triple-calendar chronograph runs the same Valjoux 72-family architecture you find in watches selling for many times this. Day and month through windows at 12, date on the red central pointer against the outer 1–31 ring, three registers — running seconds at 9, 30-minute counter at 3, 12-hour counter at 6. Charcoal-black dial with silver registers and applied luminous batons that have aged to an even cream.
Specs
• Reference: 72.1309.70
• Case: All stainless steel, 37mm excluding crown, 13.5mm thick, 19mm lugs. Slight pitting on the back and where the movement fits into the case
• Crown: Original signed Wakmann crown
• Caseback: Screw-down, signed STAINLESS STEEL / ANTIMAGNETIC / INCABLOC / SWISS MADE with the Wakmann galleon, 5 ATM pressure tested
• Movement: Valjoux cal. 730, manual wind, 17 jewels, 21,600 vph, column wheel, Incabloc
• Crystal: Acrylic
• Lume: Tritium, original
• Strap: Hodinkee McBride in Wine, 19mm — not original to the watch, but a good pairing and worth real money on its own. Included with the sale.
Service
Full teardown, cleaning, fresh lubrication, reassembly, and regulation. Readings after:
• Dial down: 0 s/d, 273° amplitude, 0.2ms beat error
• Dial up: +11 s/d, 300° amplitude, 0.1ms beat error
Chronograph starts, stops, and resets. Day, month, and date correctors all work. Everything on this watch functions as it should. This is a vintage watch so I have had the chronograph not reset clean very occasionally. Mostly if you reset in the first 5 seconds. Also this watch is not waterproof, so no swimming please.
Setting it
Two inset pushers on the case side. The one at 10 o’clock handles day and month — half press moves the month, full press takes the day with it. The pusher at 8 o’clock moves the date pointer. Don’t use either between 8 PM and 2 AM; the calendar is engaged for the midnight change and you can damage it. The month doesn’t roll over on its own, so set it by hand at the end of each month.
Condition
Honest vintage. Light scratches and handling marks on the case, more visible on the back, but the galleon engraving is still crisp. Dial is clean with no lacquer loss. Hands and crown are original. Look through all the photos — they’re part of the description.
Ships insured and packed properly. Ask me anything.
