Le Phare (the lighthouse) was a brand under the manufacturing umbrella of Jean D’Eve, which began producing timepieces in 1888. The name Le Phare is seldom mentioned in today’s collecting circles but they should not be forgotten. The company’s founder Charles Barbezat-Baillot is widely credited with being a genius watchmaker with a number of important horological patents. Perhaps his most notable was the use of centrifugal force in a repeating mechanism. In the early 20th century the company would go on to produce movements for other brands like Bulova and eventually was acquired by Zenith. By the 1970s the Le Phare was the second largest Swiss chronograph manufacture and was active up until recently, in 2020.

This example on offer features a beautiful silver sunburst dial with raised sub-registers for the chronograph. The case is slim at fits beautifully on most wrists at 37mm. For those with a taste for the unusual, this manual wind two-register chronograph is very unlikely to be seen elsewhere in the wild!

Dial: All of the lume plots have aged to an even off-white patina and are present and full. No notable belmishes under magnification. Hands: Most of the tritium in the hour hand is missing but is present in the minute hand. They could be color matched down the road to elevate value. Case: Extremely sharp and appears unpolished. Etching on caseback is still very crisp. Correct pushers and unsigned crown. Crystal: Clear. Accessories: Two piece canvas strap in tan. All functions of the watch operate flawlessly. The movement is running well on our timegrapher and comes with our 1-year mechanical warranty.

Year/era: 1970s Reference: NA Dimensions: 37mm wide, 20mm lug width. Movement: Manual wind Landeron 149 caliber.