Following on from Two-register Tissot 40508 from the ‘60s I fell into something of a rabbit hole with 2-register Tissots from the 60s.
That first watch was bought unseen in an auction and looked a bit sorry for itself…
… but after a good clean it has proved surprisingly accurate and wearable. This one has 40508-6X on the inside case back. Doing a little digging unearthed Rich Askham’s excellent article – Tissot Seastar Chronograph (Lemania Cal. 1277)… – The Watch Spot – which made the assertion that the movement was only made in 1969 so this must be quite a rare little watch.
Please sir, may I have another
As is the way with these things, when you see one you start to see them everywhere. A few months after picking up this first 40508, I came across another, this time with black subdials rather than the “Panda” white ones.
This one came to me on a strap but I had a spare “608” bracelet (19mm lug width) which is used on a load of the Seastar and PR-516 ranges of the late 60s and early 70s.
What’s interesting in looking at the black watch is that its reference is 40508-1X; presumably the model evolved rapidly and maybe different features (the colour of the subdials for example) made a different sub-reference.
Looking at the two compared, though; the chrono hand in the –1X is quite different, looking almost like the second hand as used on the PR-516 range (see “Bought for the Bracelet”- part I) and the crown is unsigned whereas on the –6X it has a Tissot T logo. There’s always a chance the crown had been replaced, but doing some sniffing around online it looks like it might well be original.
Three’s a crowd
A few months down the line, and yet another one cropped up and I couldn’t help myself.
This one actually came on a horrible aftermarket bracelet too. Looking more closely, it’s got a different chrono hand again … this one has a tail like the top pictured 40508-6X, but the tail bit is painted black. I wondered if it had been refinished but there are others photographed out there with the same design. It’s also very similar to the later Tissot PR516 Chronograph 3-register chrono, so I’m sure it’s correct. This latest one is a reference 40508-10X.
The acrylic crystal might be a bit scuffed but it’s got a frickin’ DOT OVER NINETY BEZEL, Speedmaster fans…
Bracelet options
I spent a while looking for a different bracelet, since some of the 40508s came on what a German catalogue described as “GT-Band” (also note that the catalogue said it was PR 516…)
This “brick” type bracelet is stamped “2000” on the clasp, and has 554 endlinks. I got one which was a big broken, but then bought a similar looking 520-2102 bracelet and transplanted the 554 endlinks onto it…
Here is that bracelet adorning the first 40508-6X:
Serial-number-wise, the 40508-1X is 2081xxx, the 40508-6X is 2451xxx and the 40508-10X is 2451xxx, only 923 later than the –6X.
I’d wager the –1X is an early production model, and that all the black dials are –1Xs, out whereas all the other references are Panda? Here’s a black –1X with serial number 2080550 and a Panda –1X with serial 20807??.
I’ve seen photos of other references (–9X with serial 2419063, –8X with serial 2419602 , ratty-looking –7X with serial 2350910 maybe?, an unknown-serial –7X …) which suggests that the serial numbers overlapped between references.
Since Tissot would have bought a job lot of these movements from Lemania, it’s possible they were sitting on a shelf and being picked up to stuff into the watches being produced – in other words a later movement serial number doesn’t necessarily mean a later watch production date. I guess we’ll never really know.