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Joël Pynson
April 2026
In the 1920s, the norm for women was to wear a small, discreet watch, perhaps adorned with precious stones. None of the complications favored by men—such as a calendar or chronograph—were available.
But women’s emancipation in the West had already begun: they had the right to vote (though not in Switzerland), they could hold political office, they could work in most professions, and since 1900 they had been participating in the Olympic Games.
Starting in the 1930s, things began to change in Switzerland. As early as 1931, the Rolls automatic watch was available in a ladies’ version, as were the very fashionable jumping-hour watches and water-resistant watches designed for sports. And in 1935, Mido launched the Multifort—an automatic, water-resistant watch, with some models designed for a woman’s wrist.
1931
1936
To measure performance in stadiums, the smallest chronograph calibers were 13 lignes (approximately 29 mm), which, at the time, was considered too large for women. Several smaller chronograph calibers were introduced in the mid-1930s by Venus, Arogno, and Dépraz, some measuring as small as 10.5 lines (23.70 mm), but these small chronographs lacked a minute counter [1].
It was actually in 1936 that a remarkable 10.5-line (23.7 mm) caliber appeared, which would finally make it possible to launch chronographs with counters for women: the Valjoux 69 caliber.
This caliber was available in two versions: a single-push-button model with the push-button at the 2 o’clock position, and a two-push-button model.
1939
1937
It was used by many chronograph manufacturers that did not produce their own movements, including Breitling, Gallet, Eterna, Gaston Capt, Eska, Rolex, and others.
1939
1940
The compact size of the Valjoux 69 made it possible to produce the first square chronographs around 1941.
1941
1941
The success of the Valjoux 69 inspired two other chronograph movement manufacturers: Geneva Sport and Universal Genève.
Montre de Sport Genève, better known as Geneva Sport, was founded in 1930 by Ivan Robert and Fernand Delay. It was a watchmaker specializing in chronographs that developed its own calibers, ranging from 13 to 19 lignes, with or without a split-seconds hand.
Around 1939, Geneva Sport launched a 10.5-lignes caliber available in two versions: one with a push-piece integrated into the crown and one with two separate push-pieces.
1939
1940
This movement was, of course, used by Geneva Sport in its own production, but not exclusively: it can also be found in watches made by Record and in unbranded watches, which allowed retailers to put their own names on them.
Finally, it was also around 1939 that Universal Genève—which had developed, in collaboration with the Martel manufacture in Les Ponts-de-Martel, a range of chronograph calibers ranging from 12.25 to 19 lignes—designed the 10.5-lignes Caliber 289. This caliber was available only in a two-push-button version, and it enabled Universal to launch square chronographs around 1940.
1939
1940
[1] For more information on these watches, see: https://www.time2tell.com/en/history-of-watches/571-chronographs-without-counters-and-stop-watches-part-1.html
Notes:
About Time To Tell: Time To Tell has one of the largest private digitized databases on the history of Swiss watchmaking, with over 2.5 TB of data on more than 1,000 Swiss watch manufacturers. This database has been built up over a period of around 30 years and continues to be updated with around 50 to 100 GB of data each year. The database consists of historical documents, mainly Swiss trade journals, dating from the late 19th century to the late 20th century. Most of these documents are not available on the Internet. The 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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