Ernest Borel / Synchron Automatic Cocktail Watch

With mesmerizing kaleidoscopic dial

Description:

This wonderous, kaleidoscopic Borel Cocktail watch was introduced in 1952 and was made until about 1980. The main attraction to this watch is the animated kaleidoscopic dial. The center of the dial is occupied by two disks with patterns printed on them, an bottom disk with a reflective back and an top transparent disk. When the top disk spins, a mesmerizing kaleidoscopic effect occurs from the interaction between the patterns on the two disks. This type of watch is also known as a "mystery dial" because the body of the hands are hidden from view.

Borel Cocktail Watch Advertisement

The Borel Cocktail watches were made with five different kaleidoscopic patterns:

• flower
• sun
• arrows
• star
• wheel

This Borel Cocktail watch has a very rare and ususual Moire patterned dial instead of the usual five patterns described above. One disk rotates with the minutes and the second disk rotates with the seconds, forming an interference pattern as the disks overlap. Once each minute, the minutes and seconds line up forming a pattern of parallel non-intersecting lines which changes into a pattern of intersecting grids as the disks rotate. This watch was made somewhere between 1975 when Borel was acquired by Synchron and 1980 when the production of cocktail watches ceased. Other than that, there is very little known about this particular watch design due to its rarity.

Condition:

Case: Excellent.
The case is in excellent condition almost pristine condition. There is one tiny scratch on the top bezel, but it's only visible if you look very closely. For all practical purposes, the case is in mint condition. The case back even has the protective purple plastic layer, just as came from the factory.

Face / Hands: Excellent.
The dial, and hands are in excellent perfect condition.

Crystal: Excellent.
The glass crystal is pristine with no scuffs or scratches of any kind.

Band / Bracelet: Excellent.
The band is excellent condition. The gold colored metal bracelet that is currently on the watch is not original but is from the same era. I have the original band that came with the watch, but it is a rather non-descript black leather band and I think the gold bracelet makes the watch a little more showy and notable and matches the style of the watch well.

Function / Accuracy: Excellent.
This watch winds smoothly, sets easily, and runs perfectly.