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Joël Pynson
February 2025
Main Cortébert watch models
- Jumping hours and minutes
Cortébert produced watches with jumping hours and minutes, using the Pallweber system, as early as the end of the 19th century.
1933
But in 1933, Cortébert also produced a modernized, flatter, but still pocket-watch version, which the company called INDEX.
Production was short-lived.
- Blue ribbon
1936
Introduced in 1936, this is a wristwatch with a case curved to fit the wrist. It features a 7 ¾ - 11-line caliber with shock protection. It existed with a steel case.
Other Swiss manufacturers produced this type of watch, such as Marvin with the Motorist of 1938.
- Skeleton watches
1947
At the 1936 Basel Fair, visitors to the Cortébert stand were able to admire a beautiful "skeleton" movement [16]. It was the work of one of the company's watchmakers, Albert Meister, who over a period of ten years "skeletonized" all Cortébert calibres. These exhibition models were not for sale, but showcased the company's technical expertise.
- Corté-date
Cortébert launched its first Corté-date calendar watch in 1947. It was a "complete calendar", with day (by hand), date and month (by aperture). There were also moon phases.
As with all calendar watches of that era, and often still today, it was not advisable to set the calendar when the indications were changing, around midnight. If the watch is stopped, how can you tell whether the hands are pointing to noon or midnight?
1951
1952
To overcome this shortcoming, Cortebert modified its Corté-date in 1951, adding a small additional dial indicating the hours with a red zone corresponding to the period when the calendar should not be set. Outside this zone, the calendar could be set using 4 small push-pieces housed in the case middle.
- Annus sanctus
In the Catholic Church, a Holy Year is a celebration decided by the Pope approximately every 25 years. In 1950, the Holy Year, Cortébert produced a chronometer pocket watch for Pope Pius XI, in which the indexes were replaced by the letters " ANNUS SANCTUS " [17].
1950
This watch was of course a one-off, but Cortébert also produced pocket watches and wristwatches for men and women.
- Railroad watches
In 1928, Cortébert became the official supplier to the Italian Railways [18]. 3000 watches were delivered in 1928 and 5000 in 1929.
1934
1955
In 1960, Cortébert delivered 100,000 watches to Italian Railways [19], and 125,000 in 1966 [20].
Cortébert also delivered watches to Turkish Railways. These watches were marked " Cortébert TCD Demiryolu ", a trademark registered by Cortébert in 1962.
- Cortérotor
Cortébert has been producing self-winding watches since the 1940s, using Ébauches SA calibers. The Cortébert 654 caliber, for example, is in fact an A. Schild 1173, and the Cortébert 451 is an A. Schild 1250.
1954
In 1954, Cortébert launched its own automatic movement, the caliber 700 Cortérotor. It's a more modern caliber, with center seconds, rotor arming in both directions of rotation, with or without date window at 3 o'clock.
This caliber was actually used for a relatively short period. From the 1960s onwards, Cortébert also used ETA automatic calibres, in particular the 2450 range.
- Huntermatic
In 1957, Cortébert launched two new models: the Airguide and the Huntermatic. The Airguide was a very classic, hand-wound watch, but the Huntermatic was a beautiful watch typical of the late 1950s: automatic (Cortérotor caliber), center seconds, steel case, gold hour markers, and a peripheral flange under the crystal to give the dial more depth.
1958
[17] Revue Internationale d'Horlogerie, 1950, 6, p. 39
[18] Revue Internationale d'Horlogerie, 1929, 5, p. 72
[19] La Suisse Horlogère, 1962, 4, p. 36
[20] La Suisse Horlogère, Weekly Edition, 1966, 49, p. 1504
Notes :
About Time To Tell: Time To Tell has one of the largest private digitized databases on the history of Swiss watchmaking, with over 2.3 TB of data on more than 1,000 Swiss watch manufacturers. This database has been built up over a period of some thirty years, and continues to be fed with around 50 to 100 GB of data every year. The database is made up of old documents, mainly Swiss trade journals, dating from the late 19th to the late 20th century. Most of these documents are not available on the Internet. Historical articles published on the time2tell.com website always cite the sources used.
Time To Tell is a private company, independent of any watch manufacturer.
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