Description

A Movado M95 Sub-Sea chronograph in a yellow gold case, circa 1960s is one of the most characterful and underappreciated vintage chronographs in the collector market. The white grainé dial carries applied gold baton hour markers, a blued steel centre chronograph seconds hand, and, most distinctively, matching red baton hands on the 30-minute and 12-hour sub-registers, a confirmed original variant that gives this example an immediacy and visual impact that plainer Sub-Sea dials cannot match. Three registers in the full tri-compax arrangement: running seconds at 9, 30-minute counter at 3, and 12-hour counter at 6. Powered by the in-house Calibre 95M.

The Movado M95 Sub-Sea

The story of the Movado M95 is, at its core, a story about value and recognition: here is a watch that shares its case maker with the Patek Philippe reference 1463, its movement architecture with the most technically ambitious Swiss chronograph production of the mid-twentieth century, and its design language with the best sporting chronographs of the 1960s, and yet it trades at a fraction of the price of its more famous contemporaries. That gap is closing, but it remains one of the most compelling propositions in vintage horology.

Movado released water-resistant wristwatches as early as 1935, and by the 1960s was producing dive-capable chronographs that competed directly with Rolex and Omega’s best professional offerings. The Sub-Sea was the waterproof chronograph at the centre of that effort: a robust, purposeful watch built to be used underwater and in the field, housed in the finest waterproof case money could buy and powered by a manufacture movement that Movado had spent decades refining.

The M95 calibre, the movement inside this watch, was the world’s first modular chronograph movement, introduced by Movado in 1938 and continuously developed through three decades of production. By the time the Sub-Sea was in production in the 1960s, the 95M was a mature, proven, and thoroughly refined movement. Movado designed it, built it, and finished it entirely in-house at a time when the rest of the industry had largely abandoned that ambition.

The FB/Borgel Case

The Sub-Sea’s waterproof case was made by François Borgel, the same case maker who manufactured the Patek Philippe reference 1463 chronograph. The FB/Borgel construction achieves water resistance through a system of threaded and fitted components rather than a conventional screw-down back, producing a case of exceptional integrity and finish. The downturned lugs, the signed stumpy pump pushers, and the overall rounded profile are instantly recognisable to those who know the Sub-Sea, and entirely distinctive from anything else in vintage watchmaking.

A notable quirk of the M95 movement worth knowing: the chronograph operates inversely to convention. The lower pusher starts and stops the chronograph; the upper pusher resets. This is a deliberate design choice that remains one of the movement’s most discussed and admired characteristics.

The Dial and the Red Hands

The dial has a white grainé finish; a fine granular texture across the surface that catches light differently from a plain lacquered dial and gives the white ground a quiet, tactile depth. Applied gold baton hour markers sit at each position. The outer track carries a simple minutes/seconds scale without a tachymetre, a restrained and purposeful layout that keeps the dial legible under all conditions. Three sub-registers are recessed into the dial surface in the tri-compax arrangement: running seconds at 9 o’clock, a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, and a 12-hour counter numbered 1–12 at 6 o’clock.

The most immediately striking detail is the hand configuration. The centre chronograph hand is blued steel that is vivid and precise against the white dial. The sub-register hands, on both the 30-minute and 12-hour counters, are red batons: a confirmed original Movado variant that appears alongside the more widely known snake or kris hand configurations. Straight red baton sub-register hands are documented as a fully correct original fitment, and on this white dial, they create a tri-colour effect – white, gold, and red – that is impossible to ignore.

Specifications

Brand: Movado

Model: M95 Sub-Sea Chronograph

Reference: 95-224-568

Year: circa 1960s

Case material: Gold-tone (14k yellow gold, FB/Borgel patented screw-back case)

Case diameter: approx. 35 mm

Bezel: Smooth polished gold-tone bezel

Dial: White grainé dial, applied gold baton markers, blued steel centre hand, red baton sub-register hands, outer minutes scale, three registers (running seconds at 9, 30-min counter at 3, 12-hour counter at 6)

Strap: Navy blue leather strap

Crystal: Original Sub-Sea plexiglass (light surface scratches; replacement available on request)

Movement: Manual wind (Cal. 95M, 17 jewels)

Condition: Good vintage condition with light signs of wear consistent with age

Accessories: Watch only (no box or papers)

Warranty: 1 year warranty

Availability

This vintage day-date automatic watch is available through Vintage Times Amsterdam.

For further information or high-resolution images, please feel free to contact:

Vintage Times

Vintage Times Amsterdam is a small watch boutique who mainly deals online and with a select group of private collectors. We are constantly looking for rare vintage timepieces and try to present the best condition available. Please don’t hesitate to get in contact for more information about this watch or other timepieces from our collection. We ship worldwide and also welcome you for a visit at our office in Amsterdam.

Vintage Times

email: [email protected]

tel / app: +31 6 4 1111 044