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This is an interesting new watch that's just appeared on the market. A company in Montana bought the rights to the Jardur name and is offering it's first watch, the Jardur Degreemeter. Pretty interesting piece at a contemporary 44mm size. Movement is Valjoux/ETA 7750. They will be updating their site (http://www.jardur.com) soon with new pics I'm told. I'd like to see some close-up pics of the dial and back. Maybe this is a line that Breitling should explore with just basically taking an old 1940's design and installing in a larger case with a modern movement. An early Chronomat 769 done this way would be VERY interesting.



Here's a pic of the 1948 Jardur Bezelmaster I have.

Nice, it's good to see Jardur back - and that is a nice looking piece.

I like the design and excellent readability with a little aviation flare (red degree scale) to it. Some additional info./history I saw a bit ago:

http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t= ... sg_6293165

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Chrono Jetstream
Montbrilliant 1903
Aerospace E79362

Good to see the name back in production, and the design ethos of taking a vintage design and bringing it subtley up to date very much appeals to me. However, I've gotta say, I really don't like the date window! That aside it's a nice looking piece.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

yeah, there are a couple of things I think they could have done better. The date window, if they had to have it, would have looked better at 3 o'clock and maybe replacing the '3'. I don't really like the way the red scale overlays the white numbers either. I think the scale could have been done so that wouldn't be the case. I think it would also look better if there was a sub register scale at 9 o'clock.

Good point about the red scale overlaying the white numerals. Hmmmmmm..... I think your original Bezelmaster is much better!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

If they did a throwback 769 Paul I wouldn't know what to do from all the excitement.

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

Hello, my name is Chris and I am the person who is attempting to revive the vintage Jardur brand.

I first want to thank the author for the start of this thread. I have and will always continue to monitor watch forums (when I have time) to stay up to date on trends and concerns with the watch industry…especially with this brand. It is you (and me) as the customer who provides feedback, negative or positive, that will make a difference with this new company and I am all ears.

When I started looking into a design for the first product line, I really wanted to reintroduce Jardur’s 1937 signature line, the Bezelmeter 960 (like Driver 8 indicated). I worked very hard to obtain a movement that would depict the dial positions, but to no avail. I unfortunately had to look into different options.
Wanting to keep the original DNA such as the degree scale and the un-elapsed bezel scale, I began incorporating these features into a case that would outfit a 7750. As you all know, this movement is larger than the original Valjoux 72 movement and creating an appealing design with those scales was difficult. I also had plenty of discussions with my VP on whether or not to use the date window at all…since the Bezelmeter didn’t have a date. As you can tell, I opted for the date. I mainly did this so I could separate the Degreemeter (DM) from the Bezelmeter (BM)…providing some autonomy from the original. I will revisit the Bezelmeter soon for those vintage aficionados.

In regards to the positioning of the date window, I felt that I couldn’t place it at the 3 position for a couple of reasons. The first reason was the placing of the “Jardur” name. Since the dial placements were different than the BM, I felt placing the name at the 3 position was the only workable position for it. I also wanted to fit the model name to provide that independence from the BM as well. The other reason was the blocking of the 45 degree position of the degree scale.

In my research of the company, I found an image of a Jardur chronograph I have never seen before and still have difficulty finding documentation of it. This chrono has only two registers, one at the 12 and one at the 6, but incorporates many of the scales of the BM. I am dating this watch (attached pic) to be in the mid to late 50s. It is this watch that I was attempting to replicate with the new DM. So, when forum user Vintage indicated that he would have liked to see a sub register, I opted to subdue this register to appear like this mystery chronograph. This was the reason. If I find enhancing that register is what customers want, then by all means…DONE!

When it came to the degree scale…this was the most difficult placement on the dial. I have numerous renderings where the scale was all the way up against the edge of the dial or closer to the middle of the dial…away from the numerals. Since the dial itself is pitch black, placing the scale over the white numbers seemed to be a feasible avenue due to the legibility. I was looking into lightening the color of the dial to enhance the degree scale, but the majority won on keeping the dial darker.

The question remains on whether I will stick with this Degreemeter design with a few tweaks or design something different (other models excluded). I want to think that the Degreemeter is a work in progress, always enhancing it as I go. I know I will pay homage to the vintage Bezelmeter, but it is the Degreemeter that I want to hang our hat on.


If anyone is interested in an update, I am expecting the watches to be in country from Switzerland in November or early December, (Just in time for *Christmas*?). 66 of them are being manufactured and are serialized. 46 of them are already sold to a local aviation company, so only 20 will be available. I will have a couple in Bozeman, Montana at the “The Last Wind Up” and the rest on the website at http://www.jardur.com.

So stay tuned to the website or those other wonderful social networking sites such as FB or Twitter : )

http://www.facebook.com/jardurwatches
https://twitter.com/JARDUR_WATCHES

Thanks for your time and PLEASE...feel free to drop me a line anytime. I love talking about watches.

CC

Oh and better pictures to come! Sorry for that. CC

Welcome to BreitlingSource and congratulations on the work. Looking forward to hearing more about the brand and love that up down two register piece!

Hi Chris. I've never seen that pic of the up/down Jardur either. Really looks a lot like a Pierce chronograph from around the same timeframe. I think there's a variation of the 7750 movement that uses the same configuration as per the Oris Williams F1 series so it's possible to put one like that together I would imagine. It would also give you a little more lattitude in where to place the Jardur logo. I hope I didn't come off as being overly critical since that wasn't my intent and I think you've done a great first attempt at getting the brand back on the front burner.

Paul

Hi Chris - wow, we don't usually get watch makers here to further explain their work and answer comments! A very refreshing change so welcome aboard. To echo Roff's post, many congratulations on reviving the brand - you've done a great job there as starting up watch company is no easy task. Hats off to you.

Just to qualify my comment re the date window- it's a real personal pet hate of mine, but I just dislike very noticeable date windows at the 4.30 position. Now if it was a black date wheel and if the window was just fractionally smaller to allow the red circle in the middle to continue uninterupted instead of being broken my the window, then I wouldn't have made a comment. I like to have a date on the watch, but unless it's at 3 or 6 then I like it to be as unobtrusive as possible. The Ploprof 1200 does the 4.30 date absolutely perfectly IMO. (Yes, yes, I know, I'm odd, but little tiny design points can make or break a design for me).

But once again, congrats on the revival and I wish you all the best in the venture.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

It's at 4:30. Of course you don't.


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SHARKMAN

Wow, just read the rest of the thread - cool Chris! Could there be a Breitlingsource project watch in the future?? Ya never know.


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SHARKMAN

Hello again. I really should be working…but this is more enjoyable!

First I want to add that critiques or more what I like to call, Evaluations , are very welcome in my world. It’s people like you who provide wonderful input for current or future models.

• Driver 8: You’re not odd. We all have our little peccadillos when it comes to our designs and I too have to have a date. I have a large collection of vintage Jardur’s and love every one of them, but I have a hard time wearing them since I am always needing a date. I know there are wonderful watches out there without dates and since I had the option here, I had to put one on the new DM. Regarding the date wheel on the Ploproof 1200, OH YES, they did a nice job on that date window. Very small and somewhat vague at first glance.
Thank you for the nice comments!

• Vintage: Again, it is those Evaluations that are going to make my customers happy. This will always be my goal and I welcome them.

Regarding the Peirce pieces; yep, very similar to that Mystery Jardur. Peirce also has a few models with a snail tachy scale which are very remarkable in my book. I have found only one Jardur with this scale placement, but nothing on a model number or documentation. Another Mystery Jardur…. And some ask why I am doing this! Adventure!

Funny you mention Oris. It is this brand that I paid more attention to when it came to designing the DM.

Coffee: "Black as the devil, hot as hell, pure as an angel, sweet as love." Talleyrand (1754- 1838).

• Roffensian & Sharkman: Thanks for the cheers and will keep you informed!

Best Regards,
The NEWB