Horological Meandering

rdenney
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Respectfully Submitted: The Concord Impresario GMT

There's another entry in the class of not-so-old watches that still have a strong vintage vibe, and that are not so collectible that they are out of reach to we more impecunious purists. This one is no re-edition of an actual vintage model like the Heuer Carrera 1964 Re-Edition of previous entry, but it's a first-class find, if rather uncommon, for those who enjoy the small vintage concept but want a modern high-grade movement. And being still an obscure brand, it also remains discreet without being plain.

Concord has been part of the North American Watch Company (now the Movado Group) for so long that previous history is sparse in the extreme. It was founded in 1905 in Biel/Bienne and spent most of its life making watches for quality jewelry store house brands such as Tiffany. Grinberg's NAWC had attempted to buy Movado in 1969 (Zenith got there first) and Concord was their consolation prize in 1970. They participated heavily--far out of proportion to their small size--in the consortium that developed the micro-thin quartz movement that powered the Delirium--the thinnest watch with physical hands ever made. They earned exclusive US marketing of that movement in return for it. That was their claim to fame for many years, though they had a number of successful lines, particularly in the American market.

In 1997, they added a mechanical line to their flagship Impresario line, and the Impresario Mecanique watches were exclusively complicated and powered by Zenith movements. The Impresario that used the El Primero steals all the press in this series, but they also made a GMT model that used the Zenith Elite caliber 682.



This is a GMT watch, not a traveler's watch. The 24-hour hand can be advanced in even hours with a pusher at 10, just like current Zenith GMT models. But on this watch, as on early Zeniths to use this movement, the pusher lies flush in the case and requires a stylus. But for those who don't travel but still want to keep track of a different time zone, the mechanism is really well made.



All the Impresario Mecanique models were COSC certified, and this one is no exception. When it came to me, the COSC certificate, along with a North American Watch Company warranty card dated 1999 and an old-fashioned long and narrow box, were included.

The styling of the watch includes prominent tear-drop lugs that make one think of the 30's, and the body of the case is given an excellent coin-edge treatment. Those who love small watches will rejoice at the 35mm diameter, and on my 21cm wrist it is rather diminutive. But that makes it work really well in dressy circumstances.



The case depth is proportional at about 7mm, even including a display back.

The dial is really rather special, with deeply carved guilloché and applied numerals and dagger markers.

The Elite movement is, of course, in the Lepine arrangement with the seconds subdial opposite the stem, and on this watch the seconds hand is blued (sadly not really apparent in the photos). The dauphine hands are nicely sized and polished. The GMT hand extends to a 24-hour track around the rim of the dial. Besides the blued seconds hand, the "24" and the tip of the GMT hand provide the only color.

These were short-lived, but not intentionally so. Zenith was purchased in 1999 by LVMH, who halted the supply of movements outside their group, starving this line of its movements. These retailed for $3400 in 1998 and are now a bargain when they pop up. Lovers of small, vintage-style watches with modern high-grade movements and construction should take note.

--Rick


This message has been edited by rdenney on 2016-03-02 09:22:40

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