Don't miss the next drop
If you thought the Electro-Chron was cool, wait until you see what happens when one of these dials ages for sixty years. This is the first-generation Wittnauer Electric, the earliest commercially available version of what would later become known as the Electro-Chron, and it is wearing its age in the most spectacular way imaginable. The dial reads “Wittnauer Electric” rather than the later “Electro-Chron” branding, a distinction that collectors of these watches use to identify the earliest production examples. The first Wittnauer Electrics with the Landeron 4750 movements rolled off the production line at the close of 1960 and debuted at Basel in April 1961, making this watch one of the very first Swiss-made electric watches to reach the market.
The movement inside is the same Landeron 4750 that powered all early Electro-Chrons, the first Swiss-made electric watch movement, developed by André Beyner and René Besson and manufactured at Ebauches SA’s Landeron factory. Cal. 11EW is Wittnauer’s internal designation for this ebauche. It uses a fixed-coil, contact-controlled system where electric impulses from contact wires interact with a steel balance plate, achieving near-quartz accuracy almost a full decade before the quartz crisis. The technology was brilliant but commercially doomed, making every surviving example an artifact of a fascinating dead-end branch of horological evolution. The first-generation case construction features an openable caseback with separate battery access, a far more practical design than the later one-piece cases that required removing the crystal and entire movement just to change the battery. The inner caseback is stamped “Wittnauer Watch Co Inc, Swiss, Acier Inoxydable, 6150/1” confirming the early reference. The Landeron 4750 is visible through the transparent protective cover, signed “Wittnauer Watch Co Inc, Swiss.”
And then there is the dial. What was once a silver sunburst has transformed over six decades into a warm, amber tropical surface with heavy speckling and areas of flaking that give it an almost geological texture. The original silver has shifted to a deep honey tone, the kind of organic aging that cannot be replicated or faked. The applied stick markers have oxidized along with the dial, taking on a weathered patina that blends seamlessly with the surface. The “Wittnauer” and “Electric” printing remains legible, anchoring the dial in its identity even as time has rewritten everything else. And of course, the star of the show remains the lightning bolt handset: the jagged minute and seconds hands with the eccentric circular hour hand, all present and original, now carrying their own patina that matches the tropical dial perfectly. For a certain type of collector, this dial is worth more than a pristine example. The tropical aging combined with the lightning bolt hands creates a look that is utterly singular.
The stainless steel case shows honest wear consistent with six decades of life, with surface marks on the lugs and caseback. The outer caseback carries the faint remnants of engravings including “ELEC” visible at the bottom. The signed Wittnauer crown is original. The case profile remains strong.
We are presenting this piece on an OTTUHR suede strap with green contrast stitching. For the collector who wants the most characterful version of one of horology’s wildest designs, this first-generation Wittnauer Electric with its extraordinary tropical dial is a true one-of-one. No two tropical dials age the same way, and this one has aged into something genuinely beautiful. It is the kind of watch that makes people stop and ask what they are looking at, and the answer is always worth telling.
