Gallet MultiChron 12 - Red and Blue Multiscale Dial - Endurance Chronograph - 1950s

On March 15, 1952, thirty-two sports cars rolled onto the old bomber runways of Hendricks Field in central Florida. A Ferrari 340 America sprang into the lead when the flag fell. Behind it came Jaguars, MGs, Siatas and a small Frazer Nash, their engines carrying across more than five miles of uneven concrete as the race ran from daylight into darkness. Ten cars were already out within three hours. Then the Ferrari fell out before the third hour was done, the Frazer Nash moved ahead, and twelve hours after the start it reached the flag having stopped only three times. The event was the first Twelve Hours of Sebring, the race that would become one of the foundations of American endurance racing.

To follow a race like that from the first flag to the last, a chronograph had to count in hours, and for that Gallet had built the MultiChron 12, named for the register at six, which makes one complete circuit over twelve hours, while the register at three records thirty elapsed minutes and the one at nine carries running seconds. Start the chronograph with the field and the elapsed-hour hand continues through driver changes, fuel stops and darkness, keeping the total.

At the edge of the dial, color assigns each scale its own task. Black fifths of a second sit nearest the hours. The red telemeter, marked in miles, measures distance from the interval between a flash and the sound that follows. The blue tachymeter converts the time taken to cover a known distance into speed. All three scales circle the same face, the black holding the immediate seconds while the red and blue reach outward toward distance and velocity.

The silvered dial has aged toward warm cream. Applied gold-tone numerals rise above it, their luminous material darkened. The broad luminous hands have aged into a multicolored muted palette. Each of the three recessed registers is cut in fine concentric rings, while the long blued chronograph hand reaches beyond them to the colored scales at the rim. Spotting, marks and small losses are present across the dial.

Under the screw back, the seventeen-jewel Excelsior Park 40 winds by hand. Steel levers cross the bridges, the column wheel controls the start and stop, and the gold-colored wheels of the train remain visible beneath them. The movement is signed Gallet & Co. Swiss, with the American import mark JXR beside the balance.

The stainless steel case is formed around a broad polished bezel, round pump pushers and long lugs cut with triangular facets. A high domed acrylic crystal rises over the dial. The inner back is signed Gallet & Co. Swiss and stamped Acier Inoxydable. Scratches and marks cross the case and back, and the crystal shows surface wear.

It comes on a black lizard strap. The watch runs, and the chronograph starts, stops and resets. 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.