Chronographe 1972 Skyblue Kelton x Chapal

This is our first mechanical hand-wound chronograph*, produced in an edition of 2 x 100 numbered pieces. Sporty by nature, it adds the display of timed times to the reading of the current time. To create and develop it, we collaborated with the prestigious Chapal manufacture, whose history is closely linked to those of aviation and the automobile.

Kelton is also closely involved in motor sports. Emerson Fittipaldi, twice Formula 1 world champion in 1972 and 1974 and sponsored by Timex, visited the Besançon workshops in 1975. The name of this watch (1972) is a nod to Emerson's achievements.

Since 1832, the Chapal factory has been involved in the adventures of aviation and motor racing through its collections of custom-made leather garments; as such, it is logical that it should manufacture - in its workshops in Crocq (Creuse) - the leather strap that equips our chronograph.

The beating heart of this chrono is a Seagull St 1901 caliber. The beautiful stories of watches and movements generally begin in Switzerland, thus, the ancestor of the caliber animating our chronograph was born in Moutier, in the "Fabrique d'ébauches Vénus SA", which filed a first patent for a chronograph system in 1933.

The Venus 175, the most famous of the company's calibers, was developed in the 1940s and equipped with a column system. The economic context of the 1960s and the competition between the three major movement manufacturers, Lemania, Valjoux and Venus, led the latter, wishing to develop a less expensive caliber, to sell a production unit of the 175 to the Tianjin Watch Factory, which was participating in the 304 project, launched by the People's Republic of China, wishing to acquire its independence for 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 of sleep, the Tianjin Watch Factory, which became "Seagull" (a better choice of name, if we are addressing the West) resurrects the 304 project and relaunches its production of calibers, notably the ST series, of which the 1901, based on the Venus 175 caliber, powers our 1972 chronograph.

This chrono exists in a daytime version (1072 Skysand) and a nighttime version (1972 Skyblue).

*Chronoscope, for the purists.