PAUL DITISHEIM | Jumbo Rectangle Historic Dresswatch | Ultra Fine Swiss Made | Silvered Subseconds Dial | Art Deco | 1930s
PAUL DITISHEIM | High Grade Swiss Made
Jumbo Rectangle Dresswatch
1930s
For your collection of incredibly large sized rectangle dresswatches, there is this masterpiece made by Paul Ditisheim in 1930s beautiful Art Deco. Equipped with an ultra-fine Swiss hand-wound movement, in an exquisite case shape in a superb state of preservation, with it`s 100% original subseconds dial, signed Ditisheim.
Paul Ditisheim was an important horologist and founder of several well-known watch manufactories (...but more on that later in this article). Under his own name “Paul Ditisheim”, he produced highly special, outstanding watches and unique timepieces.
In this case, a Jumbo sized Dresswatch from the 1930s. The silvered subseconds dial has a rails decor, also known as railroad minuterié and is equipped with the so-called double bar for the minute scale. Made with a case whose elegant flowing lines are more reminiscent of Art Deco than Art Nouveau.
This Paul Ditisheim timemachine is 100% original preserved and therefore a collector's timemachine par excellence!
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Paul Ditisheim, a Swiss horologist and chronometer maker of significant importance to the watch industry, who was born in Chaux-de-Fonds in 1868 and died in Geneva in 1945.
He was born the son of the Alsatian watchmaker Gaspard Ditisheim and his wife Julie. His father Gaspard and his uncle Maurice Ditisheim founded the well-known Vulcain company, one of the many watchmaking firms founded by Jewish families in the region. The Ditisheim family belonged to the watchmaking elite in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Paul Ditisheim studied at the "Ecole Industrielle" and at the watchmaking school in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He began his training as a watchmaker in 1884 at the local watchmaking school and graduated with honors in 1887. He worked for the Vulcain family business until 1892 and then founded his own brands Solvil and Titus. Ditisheim completed his training with various watch manufacturers, including a tourbillon manufacturer in Les Ponts-de-Martel. His further training also took him to Berlin, Paris and Rotherham in Coventry. He then returned to Paris. He was married to Marguérite Etlin from Paris.
He was one of the most important Swiss watch and chronometer manufacturers, who researched and published primarily in the field of precision time measurement.
In 1892, he founded the watch manufacturer Solvil et Titus in Sonvilier, which also produced marine chronometers from 1895. Together with Charles Édouard Guillaume, Ditisheim worked on the development and testing of temperature-independent metal alloys from 1898. He was the first clock manufacturer to use these in his chronometers. He also invented the pendulum for monometallic balances (affix balance).
In addition to marine chronometers, he also produced miniature calibers for wristwatches and ring watches as well as watches with electromechanical contacts. He took part in many exhibitions with his watches and was very successful in the construction of pocket chronometers, mainly with lever escapement. Among other things, he developed a marine chronometer with an interchangeable escapement system.
His chronometers won numerous first prizes in competitions organized by the Neuchâtel Observatory, the Kew Observatory in England and in tests conducted by the US Navy. In 1900, Ditisheim was made a Chevalier of the French Academy and a Fellow of the British Horological Institute. In 1912, he set the world record in chronometry at the Kew Observatory.
From 1925 to 1935, Paul Ditisheim worked as a partner of Paul Woog in Paris on the development of new, improved lubricants for watches. Paul Ditisheim helped epilamization achieve a breakthrough in watchmaking. Jules Andrade said that “the work of Paul Ditisheim represents the greatest advance in modern chronometry”.
When the National Socialists reached Paris in 1940, Ditisheim was still working there. As a persecuted Jew, he fled from Paris to Nice and returned to Switzerland in 1944. He died the following year at the age of 76 in Geneva.
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This Paul Ditisheim Dresswatch was fully overhauled in 2025 by one of our master watchmakers, who is trained in historical watches and has a lifetime of experience. It has been treated with the utmost care, no important components have been replaced - the watch is in 100% original condition. This masterpiece functions excellently and is fully protected for you by our 1-year guarantee.
This precious vintage dresswatch has an exceptionally large jumbo case for the 1930s era, which additionally has the special feature of a 20mm wide strap lug - making the watch appear even larger overall.
We have given this timepiece a new 20mm leather strap, manufactured in Italy, in the color “night blue”.
Day or night - it's not just the blue that will fascinate you!
Manual movement
Diameter 40 x 30 mm without crown
Technical indications | Keeping time +21s sec/day
Serviced 2025
Differential taxation according to § 25a UStG. No taxes included. | Differenzbesteuerung nach § 25a UStG. Kunstgegenstände und Sammlungsstücke, Sonderregelung.