In 1881, watchmaker Achilles Ditesheim opened a workshop for the production of pocket watches in La Chaux-de-Fonds, that horological hotbed that's produced such big name brands as and , among others. His brothers Léopold and Isidore joined him in 1886. By 1900, the brothers Ditesheim began to produce wristwatches.
In 1905, the brothers moved production to a new facility and christened their brand Movado, which means "always in motion" in Esperanto. Even in the early days, watches produced by the brothers garnered many awards, surpassing watches of their rivals at competitions. Movado produced incredible mechanical timepieces through the 20th century, gaining notoriety for the sophistication of the equipment and technology they employed, including electric tools.
By the 1950s the brand was making strides in the production of water-resistant and automatic wristwatches. The brand produced its first water-resistant wristwatch in 1935 and its first automatic wristwatch, the Tempomatic, in 1945. Movado had registered the patent for the Tempomatic in 1943, but did not release it for commercial consumption until two years later.
Starting in the early 1960s, Movado released the Super Sub Sea line of watches. The standout of this collection was the Super Sub Sea Chronograph or Chronodiver--a hybrid chronograph/diver that shared a movement (the Caliber 146) with chronographs made by Zenith, who bought out Movado in 1969. But Movado also released a Super Sub Sea diver--the Super Sub Sea 300 Tempo-Matic, that last word signifying that it contained an automatic (in this case, an ETA) movement.
The sharp-beveled 40mm case of the Super Sub Sea 300 diver is comfortable on the wrist, and its Bakelite bezel and fat indices exude late 1960s cool. Sure, Movado may not have the brand recognition--or reputation--of, say, Rolex, and when one is pressed to list divers from the 1960s, the Super Sub Sea might not spring to mind as readily as the . But we can't think of a name that flows as trippingly off the tongue as "Super Sub Sea" does, or a diver that combines a sturdy construction with such effortless cool as this ones does.
