Ask any vintage chronograph collector, and chances are the name ‘Gallet’ will come up. Gallet produced some of the finest chronographs during the mid-20th century, and today, vintage models like the Multichron are highly coveted. Despite their refined and stylish appearance, these watches were originally designed as tool watches to meet the needs of military and industrial professionals. Their dials often feature various functional scales, such as decimal scales, pulsometers, and telemeter scales, which enhance their practicality for specific tasks and measurements.
The example we have here today is the Gallet Multichron 12. It features a robust stainless steel case measuring 37mm and a white dial equipped with a vibrant tachymeter in blue and a telemeter scale in red on its periphery. The dial also includes a small-seconds sub-dial to the 9:00, a 30-minute counter at 3:00, a 12-hour recording sub-dial at the bottom, and a set of blued syringe hands at the center.
The beauty of vintage watches lies in the fact that each example ages differently, depending on how it was stored and used. The dial on this particular Gallet Multichron 12 has developed a subtle eggshell hue over time, coupled with a warm toffee-colored patina on its luminous Arabic numerals.
At the time, these Multichrons were equipped with either the rare Excelsior Park 40 movement, as seen in this example, or the Valjoux 72 movement which came earlier than the former. Both are renowned as some of the best manual-winding chronograph calibers of the time, sourced from different ébauche manufacturers.
Considering their rich history, exceptional aesthetics, and mechanical movements, there is no doubt as to why vintage Gallet chronographs are considered by many to be some of the most desirable and collectable vintage chronographs in the realm of vintage watch collecting. To be able to offer this extraordinary example on our site today is a real delight.
