Retrospective: Tomas Counts Three Watches He Has Always Wanted But Hasn’t Added To His Collection

I looked back into my never-ending wishlist and picked a few watches that resonated with me. From one of the best Mimo date watches I’ve ever seen to the triumphant Juvenia Arithmo, the reasons I have never added them are different. Either I came too late, I was too hesitating, or…

… I could not find any. That’s exactly the case with the rare Mimo Date Pointer watch. I first saw it three years ago in the collection of fellow Gallet enthusiast and watch collector Jack Tan. He has quite a fine taste for 1930s–1950s watches, including a whole bunch of Mimo pieces. What’s most striking is the condition of his watches. They all look like they just came from the watch store.

Image: Jack Tan (@horo.my)

Mimi Date Pointer

Jack’s Mimo Date Pointer is one hell of a watch. Everything about it is so distinct that it’s impossible to overlook this timepiece. Although I thought it was about 32mm, Jack says it is probably even smaller, about 30mm. A full-steel case stepped around the dial suggests it’s not your everyday chromed Mimo with a steel case back.

What fascinates me most is the epicness of the date track, which shatters all stereotypes. Dials on date watches from this era were layered, with the time track grabbing premium attention and the date being pushed into the second plan. Mimo disrupts traditional hierarchy and enlarges the date to such an unusual magnitude that you get the feeling it wants to eat the time. The spaces between the numbers are so small that they blend into one infinite number. But there is no need for much spacing because of another detail of the year — the date pointer. Instead of the traditional half-moon shape, there is a full ring. Look at it as a whole package with blued hands and perfectly aged radium, and tell me you don’t want it in your collection.

Image: Pushers.io

Zodiac Hermetic Aerospace Jet

There is something attractive about any 24-hour watch. Probably it’s the idea itself. Not two but just one rotation of the hour hand around the dial per day is so unusual that it makes reading the time quite an experience. Not to mention, a time track divided into 24 slots offers an opportunity for creative design.

Image: Analog:Shift

The Zodiac Hermetic Aerospace Jet is one of the most interesting and striking 24-hour time-only watches. Yet it’s still simple and clean. There aren’t any redundant boxes or elements. Most of the charm hides in the thin, tall font chosen for numerals and the slender red indexes that substitute odd numbers. The font style is timeless and pretty sporty. It’s in beautiful contrast with the curvy “Hermetic” and “Aerospace Jet” text that looks like it was torn from an old handwritten book. Sandy yellow lume dots sitting on the border between the hour and minute track are just like cherries on the cake.

Image: The Time Curator

Juvenia Arithmo

The Juvenia Arithmo, true to its name, enabled owners to perform various calculations through its clever use of logarithmic tables. Introduced in 1945, it competed with the Mimo Loga and Breitling Chronomat, both of which also utilized a slide rule. Many other manufacturers recreated the idea later, including Ollech & Wajs, Heuer, Seiko, and my favorite brand, Gallet, with the Excel-O-Graph.

Image: The Vintageur

The inventor

According to a research article by Heinz Joss, the man behind the idea was Gerard Francis Wittgenstein (1898–1974), a Swiss electrical engineer. He later moved to Belgium but returned to Switzerland during World War II. Struggling to find work, he focused on developing a new system for circular slide rules. His designs were licensed to manufacturers that produced both watches with slide rules and circular slide rules themselves, all based on his patented system. Later, he became the director of a Lausanne-based company specializing in railroad maintenance equipment.

Image: The Vintageur

Juvenia crystal

The standout feature of the Juvenia Arithmo is its distinctive crystal. Unlike traditional watch glasses, the Arithmo’s crystal has an additional ring-shaped vault above the slide rule, enhancing the visibility of the scales and their figures. Collectors refer to the Arithmo’s crystal as “donut-shaped” since the main dial is covered by a separate piece of the crystal system than the slide rule bezels. This unique double-vaulted construction not only magnifies but also illuminates the details, a feature Juvenia advertised as a “refrascope.” As a result, shooting pictures of the Arithmo without distortions or reflections is almost impossible. Also, notice the stamping inside and outside of the case back.

Image: The Vintageur

There are multiple dial and case executions of Juvenia Arithmo. While not a single example of the Mimo Date Pointer has resurfaced in the last three years, the Arithmo pops up quite regularly. I can’t say why I have never pulled the trigger on it since the watch keeps fascinating me.

What watches have you never purchased that keep bugging you? Feel free to share them in the comments.

Header image: Analog:Shift