An obscure name even within vintage watch-collecting circles, Wittnauer is one that fans of affordable tool watches should pay attention. Though collectors have caught on and prices on the secondary market have risen in recent years, vintage Wittnauer watches continue to provide tremendous value next to some of their big-name counterparts.
A Brief History of Wittnauer
Albert Wittnauer, a young Swiss immigrant, came to the United States in the 1870s and settled in New York City. Working initially for his brother-in-law as an importer of Swiss-made timepieces, Wittnauer took over the family business in the 1880s and renamed it “A. Wittnauer Company.” In order to skirt expensive taxes, he imported Swiss movements and cased and timed them in the U.S, resulting in an affordable product that professionals — soldiers, explorers, and many others — came to love.
Albert Wittnauer - (Image by Times Ticking)
In the 1950s, Longines purchased Wittnauer. Throughout the post-War decades leading up to the Quartz Crisis, the brand’s chronograph production was in high gear. From the common-yet-beautiful Ref. 228T/3256 to the revered Ref. 242T — a watch that’s widely believed to have taken part in NASA space flight qualification trails — the firm’s midcentury tool watches are a feast of simple-yet-beautiful dials, well sized cases, useful features, and bulletproof movements from the likes of Valjoux and Landeron. While some have become incredibly collectible over the past few years, others are still eminently affordable.
The following is a guide to some of the brand’s more popular midcentury chronographs, many of which share common traits and characteristics — stainless steel cases, two- or triple-register chronograph displays, multiple timing scales, hand-wound Swiss movements, etc. Analog:Shift has long been a champion of this less well-known American-founded marque and carries vintage Wittnauer pieces as they become available. Check out some of our favorites from our past inventory, and be sure to contact us if there’s a particular watch that you’re looking for.
Wittnauer Professional Chronograph Ref. 228T
Wittnauer Professional Chronograph Ref. 228T
A beautifully proportioned watch in which nothing is out of place, the ref. 228T is a 35mm stainless steel chronograph with a fully brushed case, faceted lugs, dual barrel pushers, a signed crown, a polished bezel, and an acrylic crystal. The silvered dial features multiple scales — an outer tachymeter in blue, and an inner telemeter in red — plus a 1/5th-seconds track in black printing, applied square, rectangular, and ‘Arabic’ indices, and a dual-register chronograph with 30-minute and running seconds registers. Powered by the hand-wound Wittnauer cal. 14W (Venus 188) movement, it’s an attractive and relatively affordable mid-’60s tool watch.
Wittnauer Chronograph Ref. 3256
Wittnauer Chronograph Ref. 3256
Functionally the same as the Ref. 228T seen above, the Ref. 3256 maintains that watch’s 35mm fully brushed case, faceted lugs, dual barrel pushers, signed crown, polished bezel, and acrylic crystal. (Casebacks were signed “228T” above “3256,” indicating that the same back was likely used for both references or that both watches used a hyphenated reference within which existed different dial variants.) The silvered dial likewise features both an outer tachymeter in blue and an inner telemeter in red plus a 1/5th-seconds track in black printing, but the applied indices are in ‘dart’ and ‘Arabic’ form with luminous plots, and the dual 30-minute and running seconds registers use black ‘alpha’ hands that match the luminous ‘alpha’ handset at the center of the dial. The movement used here is the hand-wound Wittnauer cal. 14Y (Landeron 248).
Wittnauer Chronograph Ref. 242T
Wittnauer Chronograph Ref. 242T
This magnificently beautiful chronograph is unique both in looks and provenance: Namely, it is thought to have been Wittnauer’s entry for NASA flight qualification trials. Though it lost out to the Speedmaster, the Ref. 242T remains a favorite of vintage watch collectors for its splendid design: Measuring an oversized 38mm in stainless steel with brushed finishing, dual pump pushers, a signed crown, a polished bezel, and an acrylic crystal, it features a matte black dial with an outer open decimal (base-10) minute track, luminous tritium plots, an inner 60-minute track, a luminous ‘sword’ handset, and a triple-register chronograph with 30-minute, 12-hour, and running seconds registers. Powered by the venerable hand-wound Valjoux cal. 72 — which is accessed via a screw-down caseback — the Ref. 242T is far out.
Wittnauer Professional Chronograph 'Panda' Ref. 8024-242T
Wittnauer Chronograph Ref. 8024-242T
This watch features the more common black-dialed Ref. 242T’s case — oversized 38mm profile in stainless steel with brushed finishing, dual pump pushers, a signed crown, a polished bezel, and an acrylic crystal — paired to a white dial in a “panda” configuration: Around the outer edge is a black section with a tachometer scale in white printing, while within this is a silvered main dial with an outer black-printed 1/5th-seconds track, a set of applied indices with luminous pips, a luminous ‘cigarette’ handset with a red central seconds hand, and a black triple-register chronograph display with 30/45-minute, 12-hour, and running seconds registers and “exotic” printing. Powered by the hand-wound Valjoux cal. 72, this rather rare reference is a beautiful alternative to some of the other ‘60s classics from the likes of Rolex, Heuer, and Breitling.
Wittnauer Professional Chronograph Ref. 239T 7004A
Wittnauer Professional Chronograph Ref. 239T 7004A
While perhaps not quite as revered as the Ref. 242T, the Ref. 239T 7004A is yet another example of the wonderfully creative output of 1960s-era Wittnauer: Measuring a distinctly oversized 40mm in stainless steel with faceted lugs, dual pump pushers, a signed crown, and an acrylic crystal, it features a bidirectional rotating bezel with a burgundy combination 60-minute/12-hour bezel. The handsome black dial boasts an outer tachymeter scale in white printing, a 1/5th-seconds track, luminous rectangular indices, a luminous ‘sword’ handset with a ‘lollipop’ seconds hand, and a dual-register chronograph display with 30-minute and running seconds registers. (The 30-minute register features individual hash marks for the first five minutes, which can be used as a regatta countdown.) Powered by the Wittnauer cal. 14Y (Landeron 248) hand-wound movement (earlier) or Valjoux cal. 7733 (later), the Ref. 239T 7004A is yet another standout vintage Wittnauer tool watch.
Wittnauer Chronograph Ref. 8023-241T
Wittnauer Chronograph Ref. 8023-241T
The Ref. 8023-241T is a sort of cross between the ref. 228T/3256 and the 242T: Measuring 38mm in stainless steel with straight lugs, dual pump pushers, a signed crown, a smooth bezel, and an acrylic crystal, its dial features outer blue tachymeter and red telemeter scales against a silver background flanking an inner black section with a white 1/5th-seconds track, applied rectangular indices, luminous hour pips, a luminous ‘alpha’ handset, and a dual-register chronograph display with 30-minute and running seconds registers with red hands. Behind a screw-down caseback beats the Wittnauer cal. 14Y (Landeron 248) hand-wound movement. And if you can find one on the correct Wittnauer-signed, stainless steel multi-link bracelet, all the better.
Wittnauer Professional Chronograph Ref. 235T
Wittnauer Professional Chronograph Ref. 235T
The triple-register Ref. 235T is a more affordable — and slightly smaller — alternative to the slightly more well known Ref. 242T seen above. (It’s also another of the references speculated to have taken place in NASA flight qualification trials prior to the approval of the Speedmaster.) Housed in a 36mm brushed stainless steel case with dual pump pushers, a signed crown, a smooth bezel, and an acrylic crystal, it features a handsome white dial with an outer tachymeter in blue and a red telemeter scale that sits atop a black 1/5th-seconds track. Luminous ‘Arabic’ indices are joined by a luminous ‘alpha’ handset and a triple-register chronograph display with 30-minute, 12-hour, and running seconds registers. Behind a screw-down caseback is the hand-wound Valjoux cal. 72 movement.
Wittnauer Ref. 245T GMT Chronograph
Wittnauer Ref. 245T GMT Chronograph
A stunning departure from the more demure 1960s fare seen above, the Ref. 245T looks like the love child of a vintage Heuer Autavia, a well-worn Tudor Submariner, and a vintage Rolex GMT-Master: Housed in a 41mm stainless steel cushion case with a radially brushed top, dual pump pushers, a signed crown, an acrylic crystal, and a bidirectional, rotating bezel with a dual-color 24-hour insert, it features a black dial with an outer white tachymeter scale in white printing, a 1/5th-seconds track, luminous rectangular, circular, and triangular indices, a luminous ‘Mercedes’ handset with ‘lollipop’ seconds hand and red ‘lollipop’ GMT hand, and a triple-register chronograph with 30-minute, 12-hour, and running seconds registers. Powered by the Valjoux cal. 724 hand-wound GMT-chronograph movement, this chunky tool encapsulates everything we love about 1970s watch design.
