Olympic - 1940s - Black Military Dial - 24-Hour Track and Red Sweep - Hand-Tooled Strap

The Second World War changed what a wristwatch was supposed to look like. A soldier had to read the time at a glance, and in the dark, so the dial turned black, the numerals were painted in luminous radium, the hours were numbered all the way to twenty-four, and a sweeping seconds hand let him time things to the second. That look outlasted the war. It came home and became fashion, and civilian makers built watches in the military style for men who had worn the real thing. This Olympic, a Swiss watch from the 1940s, is one of them.

The dial is matte black, the hours picked out in cream radium numerals, one through twelve at full size with the twenty-four-hour figures running smaller just inside them. A minute and seconds track rings the edge, OLYMPIC is printed across the center, and SWISS sits at the foot of the dial. The hour and minute hands are luminous cathedral hands, and over them a slim seconds hand sweeps the dial with a red arrow at its tip. The radium has gone the warm cream of its age, the black is even and original, and the whole face reads exactly as it was meant to, at a glance.

The case is a gold cushion with stepped, fluted sides in the Art Deco manner, a high domed crystal, and a fluted crown. It was made by the Elite Watch Case Company, whose mark sits inside the back, in gold plated base metal over a stainless steel back. The plating carries the scuffs and small losses of a watch worn across the better part of a century, honest wear that suits the watch rather than spoils it.

Behind the dial is a seventeen jewel Swiss movement, unadjusted, eleven and a half lignes across, signed Olympic Watch Company and stamped R. Gsell and Co., Inc.

That second name is the story of the watch. Roland Gsell was a Swiss watchmaker from St-Imier who came through Ellis Island in 1918 and set up on Maiden Lane in Manhattan, the heart of the New York watch trade. In 1922 he formed R. Gsell and Co., and for decades the firm imported Swiss movements, fitted them into American cases and bands in a small New York workshop, and sold the finished watches to jewelers and department stores across the country under its own names. Olympic was one of those names. So this is a Swiss movement in an American case, brought together in New York and sold under his Olympic name.

The strap is thick leather, hand tooled with a wave and rising sun motif, darkened and cracked with the years. 

The watch is running and keeping time.

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.

I am happy to service any unserviced watch listed on the site, please inquire about service charges when purchasing.

All sales final.