Philippe Watch Anti-Magnetic Chronograph 'Spillman'

There is perhaps no more versatile complication than the chronograph.  From race cars to rocket ships, boats to battlefields, you are likely to find a chronograph being employed to measure a plethora of tasks and times. From the Greek khrónos (“time) and gráphō (“to write”), a chronograph is a watch that has the ability to record time, generally via the addition of small sub-counters that register minutes and hours.  Though many storied brands produced notable chronographs during the complication’s heyday from the 1930s through the 1970s, numerous other firms fell by the wayside during the Quartz Crisis, folding completely and disappearing or being rolled up into conglomerates that pillaged their stores of parts.  Philippe Watch is one such firm. Not to be confused with Patek Philippe, this Swiss marque produced a series of incredible chronographs in the 1940s that fly well under the radar, yet deserve your undivided attention. Take this lovely 1940s Ref. 2501, for example: Measuring 38mm and housed in a screw-back case from famous maker Spillman, it features prominent inverted 'tower' pushers, a smooth bezel, strong lugs, and an acrylic crystal.  Its dial, meanwhile, is a thing of complex beauty: Covered in a warm silvery patina, it features a an outer 5-minute track in black 'Arabic' indices atop a 1/5th-seconds track; a telemeter scale in red; distinctive, stylized 'Arabic' hour indices; an inner 'snail'-style tachymeter scale in blue; 30-minute and running seconds chronograph registers; and a luminous 'baton' handset filled with radium material. Powered by a Caliber 22 hand-wound movement from Valjoux, this tremendously cool time capsule from the time of the Second World War is oozing with vintage vibes and effortless cool. Want to be the most interesting guy in the room? Strap this Philippe watch on and...no contest!