#TBT A Colorful Airin Regatta Timer With An Impressive Valjoux 237 Movement
A flyback countdown chronograph with a date at 9 o’clock and a 3Hz beat rate… A mic-drop meme would be enough now to introduce the seemingly unique Airin Regatta Chronograph that resurfaced in France.
I have been following French graphic designer and watch collector David Renou, aka @Super.Compressor on Instagram, for quite some time now. I like his taste in watches, and many of the timepieces he has posted in recent years are unusual, interesting, novel, or hard to find. When he posted a sneak peek of his Airin Regatta Chronograph with a Valjoux 237 earlier this year, I was instantly hooked.
Image: @Super.Compressor
A design that shouts
“I have owned this watch in parts for 10 years now. I just completed all the movement recently. Now it’s fully serviced, and the watch functions perfectly,” reads David’s response after I sent him my first message. Regarding the function, that big, thin “5” printed in black over a light green background grabs the most attention. Off-centered and squeezed too close to the center, it is nothing but the funky five-minute countdown timer.
Image: KP-99 (WatchUSeek)
I wish I could include a time-lapse video of how this little wonder moves, but I can’t. We’ll just have to make do with the written description. A brief look at a static picture without much thinking would suggest that once you activate the chrono, number five on the minute counter sits there still until the last seconds of the white central hand’s first rotation, just to jump to number four. In reality, the disc moves every 10 seconds, so six times a minute. The picture above shows the disc position in the middle of the changing interval. It seems that instead of a single slide, there are six driving fingers to the central chrono wheel.
Image: @Super.Compressor
The Valjoux movement
In this conversation about the Valjoux 237, the mighty Roland Ranfft says, “In the Valjoux data sheet of the 21600A/h line the 237 is just described with flyback, 30min counter, and date, an ordinary set of features though, no note about the regatta option.” Internet sources claim there were only 300 pieces of this movement made, according to the document found and published on the German site Uhrforum. Sadly, the document is not linked anymore, and we couldn’t verify the information. If any of you could help to confirm that, I would be thankful.
Image: @Super.Compressor
I thought that the tiny 10-ligne Valjoux 69 was one of the lowest-produced Valjoux movements. If the production number above is real, it will be 10 times harder to find a Valjoux 237-powered chronograph. To complete the updated V23 introduction, there were the Valjoux V234 with a date, V235 as a purebred flyback, V236 as a standard chrono, and our V237 with both a date and flyback. To conclude the numbers game, I will quote Mr. Roland Ranfft and his mature judgment once again: “Valjoux family members with 21600A/h are pretty rare, and there is no need to know the precise quantities.”
Image: @Super.Compressor
Airin vs. Airain
When it comes to the Airin brand name with a crown above it, Kathleen Pritchard’s Swiss Timepiece Makers, 1775–1975 disappoints with no results at all. Mikrolisk, another go-to source for vintage watch nerds, ties Airin with Dodane, founded in 1934 and known for the Airain brand and military-grade chronographs. It doesn’t confirm anything, but just the fact that this unusual Airin regatta chrono resurfaced in France is somehow comforting. I mean, if it had come from Romania or Italy, that would’ve only raised more questions.
Image: @Super.Compressor
The dial
The flat, dark blue background is framed by a wide, contrasting minute track with a white background. Red numbers give a daring, sporty feel. The details I like the most are the simple, very 1970s white triangular chronograph seconds hand and the matching thick white ring framing the regatta countdown. I have never seen a regatta timer like this in real life, but it seems that the printed numerals on the minute disc are in the same style across all brands, not just on this Airin. The “5” is over green, “4” is printed over white, “3” is on red/orange, “2 is over yellow/lime, and “1” is on violet.
Image: @Super.Compressor
Last thoughts
I thought I would buy this watch, but the €6,000 asking price was way over my budget. The older I get, the more patient I become. My friend Henrik, aka @Heuerchrono, archived all mentions of the rare Valjoux 237 regatta chronograph on his reference website about yachting watches. You can get one branded Benytone or Le Phare in a C-shaped case or branded Lorenz or Le Phare in a bullhead case with a slightly rotated dial. I have to say, this Airin in a standard watch case is my favorite. Happy hunting!
Thanks to David Renou, aka @Super.Compressor, for the unusual shots over a white background for our article.
