MattA
80
Tavannes clamshell
Looking at a a few vintage watch posts recently, i suddenly got an urge to wear one of mine. It is a humble piece, a Cyma Tavannes Clamshell case tank style watch in steel with a Gay Freres Bamboo bracelet. 
The highlight of the piece I guess is the screw down clamshell case which was an early attempt at making a waterproof watch.
Tavannes was one of the leading watch companies with these inventions.
(The patent for the case on my Tavannes)
There is more than a dozen waterproof case and crown patents by the inventor Henri Colomb who worked for Tavannes. 
Regards,
Matt
This message has been edited by MattA on 2016-08-16 20:31:43
Vintage
Explore the iconic 70s Spaceman watch by Andre Le Marquand, including Fortis and Zeno models. Discover its unique design, history, and collector insights.
32 replies4776 views
Tavannes clamshell
Looking at a a few vintage watch posts recently, i suddenly got an urge to wear one of mine. It is a humble piece, a Cyma Tavannes Clamshell case tank style watch in steel with a Gay Freres Bamboo bracelet. The highlight of the piece I guess is the screw ...
Cool watch!
And your pictures have made me very curious about the bracelet. How does it close?
Thanks!
The bracelet has a very simple mechanism. This is a clear picture of the tail end i got off the web. There is some sort of a clip if you notice. This clip is quite "elastic" and it will clip onto the gaps between the bamboo bracelet. It is simple, but it ...
Hi Nicolas. Early 40s I believe. I don't think there is a concrete Tavannes database for me to determine it exactly though.
These 40s Tavannes are pretty interesting to me. I have a Venus 175 Tavannes chronograph in steel and i noticed it had a swan neck regulator when i got it, but more on that later. They are inexpensive but delightful
So from that, we can say that this brand came quite early in the water resistant watch cases. JLC came in 1937 only.
And Rolex... Well... 20 years before... But still, I don't think there were many brands to come with a water resistant case at that time.
Indeed
Also not forgetting Francois Borgel\'s early attempts at making waterproof cases!