Lot 419

Bifora

Bifora-B-Chrono

An extremely rare, vintage single button ratchet wheel chronograph with central chronograph hand - prototype

This fine wristwatch is a prototype that never went into serial production.
After the war, Bifora planned the introduction of a chronograph. For reasons of efficiency it was decided to use the tried and tested calibre 102 dating from the 1930s; the movement was updated to accommodate a purchased chronograph attachment with ratchet wheel and horizontal gearing on the back plate. A pusher at 2 o’clock was used for start, stop and zero-setting. It was most likely the missing minute counter, which prevented the model to go into serial production; at the time, Swiss companies had already launched two button chronographs with minute counters. We know that approximately 1,000 chronograph attachments were purchased but not how many such movements or finished prototypes were actually produced. The association of the "friends of Bifora timepieces" mentions about 30 "Bifora-B-Chrono" examples.
Source: http://www.bifora-ev.de/technik/chronograph.html