Baylor - Tropical Black Dial - The Brand Heuer Built Watches For - Circa 1955

Before the Carrera and the Autavia became the names Heuer was known for, the company was already building watches that left Switzerland with Baylor on the dial. They were dress watches and calendars mostly, with some chronographs among them, and many carry both names together, Heuer and Baylor. The name at twelve reads Baylor alone, so the Heuer connection belongs to the brand rather than to a second signature on the dial. Under it is the same automatic Heuer used in its own De Luxe, the A. Schild 1361.

The 1361 came out of the other branch of a family that made movements in Grenchen. Adolf Schild had worked in the factory of his older brother Urs, the firm that would become Eterna. Urs died in 1888, and on the first of August 1896 Adolf left to found A. Schild in the same town. It grew into one of the largest movement makers in Switzerland and in 1926 initiated Ebauches SA, the combine that supplied much of the industry. Urs's company went on to produce ETA as its movement division, and in 1979 A. Schild was folded into ETA, the two branches of the family's movement making back under one roof in Grenchen. A. Schild built movements to disappear behind other names, and the one in this case sits beneath a dial that has changed far more than the mechanism under it.

The dial is made as two rings. The outer band has gone a warm, dirty cream, carrying applied gold numerals at twelve, three, six and nine with slim gold lozenges between them and a fine printed minute track around the rim. It has aged unevenly, with a oxidation creeping in near the edge. The inner disc was black. It has gone tropical, the lacquer lifting and darkening into a dense granular film that holds no shine anywhere across it, and a thin red hand sweeps the whole face. The gold hands and the applied markers have picked up oxidation of their own.

The case is round, the lugs flaring wide and dropping sharply to the bracelet. Stamped underneath one of them is PLAQUE OR G 20 MICRONS, twenty microns of gold over the case, the heaviest grade of Swiss plating. Most of it has held, though the gold has worn through at the lug tips and along the edges, and there are scratches across the lug tops. The back is stainless steel and carries the specification around its face, ANTIMAGNETIC, INCABLOC, SWISS MADE and WATER-RESISTANT, with AUTOMATIC at the center, and the inside of it is signed BAYLOR WATCH Co. SWISS. The rotor turns a full circle across bridges signed BAYLOR WATCH Co., seventeen jewels, unadjusted.

The crystal carries some light surface marks but is in good condition otherwise. The bracelet is a gold toned expansion band, polished centers set between panels of cross hatching, stamped USA underneath. It runs, and its service history is unknown.

Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.

All sales final.