"Time travels in divers paces with divers persons"
William ShakespeareFor many, 90 years is a long time, but for Montres Choisi, time is but a fleeting moment, having supplied military watches for the army during World War II, to surviving the quartz revolution, to today’s revivial of the mechanical watches.
Since 1929, Montres Choisi has been the faithful guardian of traditional Swiss watchmaking craftsmanship. In 2019 the brand celebrated its 90th anniversary, marking the occasion with a limited edition dive watch as a timely tribute to Montres Choisi’s tradition of producing professional dive watches since the 1960s.
The new watch, dubbed the SEA-SONIC, features a 1960s vintage hand-winding movement caliber known as AS1950/51. These stockpile of vintage movements have been faithfully preserved in the company’s safe, and now lovingly restored and encased to become a limited edition collection of 90 pieces.
The SEA-SONIC is loaded with vintage cues, with its iconic cushion-shaped case topped with a rotating stainless steel bezel. Its markers are ink-filled, reminiscence of the 60s dive watches.
The case is 42mm across and water resistant to 200m, thanks to the updated screw-down crown as well as a thick box-style sapphire crystal, mirroring the design codes of vintage dive watches with domed Perspex glass. The lugs are gently curved to retain the overall elegance of this timepiece. The
fumé dial comes with applied indexes adorned with radium-coloured lume, matched with the detailed-finished luminous hands.
The SEA-SONIC dive watch is indeed a pure expression of how a classic dive watch should be.
Water resistance
Water resistance
200m
Strap
Strap
LEATHER NATO STRAP WITH FOLDING CLASP
Features
Features
- HOURS, MINUTES, SECONDS, DATE
- UNI-DIRECTIONAL BEZEL GRADUATED FOR DIVING
Dimensions
Dimensions
- 42mm EXCLUDING CROWN
- 22mm LUG WIDTH
- 49MM LUG TO LUG LENGTH
- 12.5MM THICKNESS WITH CRYSTAL
Case
Case
- 316L STAINLESS STEEL
- SOLID STAINLESS STEEL BACK
- BOX STYLE SAPPHIRE CRYSTAL
- UNI-DIRECTIONAL ROTATING BEZEL - SCREW-DOWN LOCK CROWN
Movement
Movement
- VINTAGE CALIBER CIRCA 1960S. A.SCHILD1950/51
- HAND-WINDING
- 17 JEWELS
- DATE
- DIAMETER 25.6mm
- THICKNESS 4.50mm
- VIBRATION BEAT 21,600 vph
Montres Choisi story begins in 1929 with the founding of a family business in Bienne, the heart of watchmaking in Switzerland. The company produced numerous mechanical timepieces under its own label “CHOISI SUISSE “, accepting only perfection and manufactured watches of the highest quality. The company also developed rapidly and earned an excellent reputation of being a 3rd party manufacture for the assembly of watches and development of movement complications such as chronographs, watches with moon phases etc., many of which were supplied to leading Swiss brands for the creation of their own timepieces.
During World War II, many of the Swiss watchmaking resources were channeled towards the production of military equipment. Montres Choisi was commissioned to produce durable military timepieces for both sides of the war, with an estimated of over 100,000 pieces produced for the German Wehrmacht and also for the Allied forces.
During the 1950s, keenly aware of the potential of new markets, the company continued to produce watches under its own label and expanded its business to Britain, U.S and East Asia.
Since the company’s founding, Montres Choisi has always been a mark of Swiss quality with an illustrious history. Its involvement in the industry to adapt complications on base movements and executing various kinds of finishes to cater to the growing sophisticated market has gained much respect and trust in the Swiss watchmaking community.
In 2013, Montres Choisi reintroduced the art of fine watchmaking with designs that encapsulate the enduring classics from the bygone era. With this rebirth, Montres Choisi continues its fine tradition of producing quality Swiss made timepieces.
"Vintage inspired design with modern performance it might be from the outside, but what makes the sea-sonic noteworthy is the movement inside, which is an actual manual winding AS1950/51 from the 60's. It’s this vintage heart that makes the watch so compelling."
Adi Soon, Founder, www.isochrono.com"It may be understated and somewhat underrated, but Choisi watches still demand a second look. This limited-edition, 90th anniversary watch reflects past, present and future in its timeless design. Choisi watches are well-crafted and display dash sans unwanted flash. It’s sharp and versatile, comfortable on your wrist regardless the occasion, and whether you need to tell the time or not."
Kannan Chandran, Publisher, www.storm-asia.com1
Montres Choisi has been making precision timepieces since 1929 in Bienne, Switzerland.
2
Do you know the reason why the watches move in a clockwise fashion is because someone in the northern hemisphere discovered time-keeping using the sundial and the shadow cast on it moved clockwise?
3
Montres Choisi core business had always been to supply watch components to other watch brands and as a 3rd party contract manufacturer for many Swiss brands. In watchmaking terms, Montres Choisi is involved in T0, T1 and T2 of the watchmaking assembly process.
4
Do you know functional water proof watches didn’t come into existence until 1920s, made successful by Rolex?
5
Montres Choisi supplied military watches for the army of various forces during WWII.
6
Wristwatch design was conceived because a military personnel decided to strap his pocket watch onto his wrist to ease his time-reading during WWI.
7
Montres Choisi created a series of dive watches during the 1960s with its own brand “CHOISI”. Various vintage dive watches you may find today could be marked CHOISI on the inner case-back as well as on the movements.
8
Bienne is one of the most important region in Switzerland for watchmaking.
9
Montres Choisi created 2 new line of watches namely “THE HERITAGE COLLECTION” & ‘’1929 COLLECTION’’ IN 2014. The CHOISI SEA-SONIC Dive Watch comes under the 1929 COLLECTION.
10
Baselworld has its roots tracing back from 1917. However the last Baselworld happened in March 2019 due to the pandemic in 2020.