Chronographe 1972 Sky red & blue Kelton x Chapal watch

While Kelton was born from the meeting of an American mother (Timex) and a French father, Stéphane Boulier, the Chapal story developed on American soil over more than half a century, with the invention of a leather waterproofing process used by the American army.

A little of history.

Our 1972 model is a hand-wound mechanical chronograph. Sporty by nature, it adds the display of timed events to the reading of the current time. To create and develop it, we collaborated with the Chapal manufacture, whose history is intimately linked to those of aviation and the automobile.

Kelton is also closely involved in motor sports. Emerson Fittipaldi, double Formula 1 world champion in 1972 and 1974 and sponsored by Timex/Kelton, visited the Besançon workshops in 1975. The name of this watch (1972) is a nod to Emerson's achievements.
Since 1832, Chapal has taken part in the adventures of aviation and motor racing through its collections of made-to-measure leather garments; so it's only logical that it should manufacture - in its workshops in Crocq (Creuse) - the leather strap that equips our chrono.

A little of mechanical history.
Stories of watches and movements generally begin in Switzerland, and the ancestor of the ST 1901 caliber that powers this watch was born in Moutier, at the Fabrique d'ébauches Vénus SA, which registered its first patent for a chronograph system in 1933.
The famous Vénus 175 caliber was developed in the 40s and equipped with a column system. The economic context of the 60s and competition between movement manufacturers, Lemania, Valjoux and Venus, prompted the latter to sell a production unit of the 175 to the Tianjin Watch Factory, which was participating in Project 304, aimed at making the People's Republic of China independent in the production of military watches.
A few thousand chronographs based on this Venus 175 caliber and intended for pilots were produced.
After a few decades' slumber, the Tianjin Watch Factory, now “Seagull”, resurrected Project 304 and relaunched its caliber production, notably the ST 1901 series, based on the Venus 175 which powers our 1972 chronograph.