Credits: Article and images by Elizabeth Doerr @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/07/02/meet-the-spaceman-popular-fashion-watch-of-the-1960s-and-1970s-that-was-almost-forgotten-in-a-drawer/
—————————————————————————————————–
What is the Spaceman?
The Spaceman has been on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art as well as the renowned MIH watch and clock museum of La Chaux-de-Fonds.
What makes this watch so special is the mix of different elements that had until then not been seen together. Quartz watches had not yet taken over, and today it seems almost indecent to put an automatic movement into a fiberglass and chrome case. However, Le Marquand dared to dream and Huber had the wherewithal to make it into reality.
The Spaceman’s blend of ovals, curves, and straight lines was just right, touching a nerve in a hip watch-buying public. It was a polarizing watch: people generally either hated it or loved it at first sight.
Its Hesalite crystal, semi-conical and domed, is partially covered by a piece of colored metal, matching the hue of the dial and serving two functions.
First, it covers a part of the dial, leaving only the vital displays visible. Second, combined with the crystal itself, it quickly and easily reminds one of an astronaut’s helmet. This is surrounded by an oval piece of shiny chrome-plated brass, forming a type of bezel and framing the watch.
The entire watch is housed in a pod-like case of white fiberglass, a revolutionary material in 1969, and can be seen from the sides as it stands up on the wrist, leaving the impression that the entire timepiece is the shape of a flying saucer.
The case measures 50 x 42 mm and is 18 mm in height, but despite that it is a comfortable fit – even on my very small wrist.
The strap is a triple-split Corfam band (a trademarked, synthetic, microporous material by DuPont used as a leather substitute) stamped with the word “Spaceman” on the underside. Its color matches that of the dial and the helmet piece.
The dial shows the time with bright-orange hands, and some models (like the one shown here) displayed the day and the date. Depending on the edition, these displays are powered by an AS 2063, 2066, 1913, 1916, or 5206, or, less frequently, an FHF 96 or 96/4.
AS (Alfred Schild) and FHF (Fabrique d’Horlogerie de Fontainemelon) were taken over by Ebauches SA in 1978, which later became ETA. Neither AS nor FHF movements are in production any longer.
—————————————————————————————————–
Credits: Article and images by Elizabeth Doerr @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2024/07/02/meet-the-spaceman-popular-fashion-watch-of-the-1960s-and-1970s-that-was-almost-forgotten-in-a-drawer/