eBay

Offered for sale is a sharp vintage 1950s Swiss Tradition (Sandoz) Ref. 1770-56 17J Cal. HSF 56 Ultra-Thin Stainless Steel watch. This is one of a number of vintage watches that were part of a retired watch technicians inventory of watches and watch parts, acquired a number of years ago, that I have begun listing here on eBay.

Tradition was the flagship house watch brand for the Sears Roebuck Company during the mid-20th century, using premium Swiss watch cases and movements in their construction. In this case, Tradition utilized a 100% Henry Sandoz & Fils build, with both the case and movement being produced by Sandoz; during the time of this watch's production, Sandoz was gaining acclaim for their line up of Ultra Thin watch offerings based around their Cal HSF 55/56 movements, and this Tradition watch is, in essence, one of those watches.

Mechanically, the Swiss 17J Cal. HSF 56 movement is in running condition - the movement began running within 5-6 winds of the crown, and once running, ran steadily. The crown sets the hands, as designed. All that said, while the watch runs steadily once wound, time keeping has not been measured; however, as with all vintage watches with an indeterminate service history (and this one is about 70 years years old now), it should be assumed that a servicing will need to be administered in order for the watch to keep accurate time.

Cosmetically, the 33.1mm diameter stainless steel case signs of normal wear in the form of small scratches and marks, but it displays sharp lines, edges and corners overall. The stainless steel case back is in similar nice condition as the case, with a few light scratches and sharp, clear factory stamping. The original glossy black dial with a guilloche outer track and embossed gold markers is in lovely condition with faint traces of radium burns that are visible when viewed at an angle; the original matching hands are clean and contain lume that has aged to a dark orange-tan color, matching the lume pips on the dial. The crown's condition matches the case. The crystal is clean and generally clear, but there are some small dust particles on the underside of the crystal and it shows some light wear around the edges.

The watch is mounted on a nice NOS black genuine crocodile grain leather watch band, and will fit a wrist of up to approximately 8 1/3" in size in this configuration.

Sandoz Ultra Thin watches from the 50s are highly prized and have become more and more difficult to source in nice condition, so finding one clothed in Tradition trappings should garner interest from both Tradition and Sandoz watch collectors.

Please review all of the photographs, as they comprise the most important part of the item description. If you have any questions about the item, please ask before bidding; there are no returns on this lot (unless it's not as described in some way.)

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