Lot 181

Gallet & Co. Swiss, "MultiChron Navigator GMT", Case No. 831966, Cal. Excelsior Park 4, 36 mm, circa 1943
A vintage wristband chronograph with 45 min. counter, dual crowns, hack setting and 24h dial
Case: steel, push back. Dial: silvered.
The "MultiChron Navigator" model was designed to meet the wide requirements of pilots, seamen and explorers alike; it was the first wrist chronograph worldwide with both 12-hour and 24-hour indication.
The additional 24-hour or "North" hand also allowed the calculation of compass alignments. The extra winding crown at 9 o’clock stops and adjusts the central second hand, which enables synchonising to fractions of a second. It was this function that made the "MultiChron Navigator" particularly popular with military as well as civil skydivers.
However, the initial cost of purchase of this complicated wrist chronograph was quite high and resulted in correspondingly low sales figures. This makes the model a highly coveted collector’s piece and one of the rarest Gallet chronographs of the 20th century.

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