1942 Angelus Chronodato Steel ref. Calibre

During the 1940s, Angelus produced the Chronodato in steel, gold and gold plate, as was popular at the time. But the Chronodato Steel examples are by far the most desirable of the bunch.

The Angelus Chronodato Steel model features a 38 mm steel case, bright blue date track, gorgeous hands large Arabic numeral, and a manual winding, in-house Angelus movement dial, giving it it a tremendous presence on the wrist.

Prior to the sports watch revolution of the 1960’s, mens watches tended to be a good bit smaller than many modern gents prefer. And the Angelus Chronodato Steel, with its gorgeous and innovative chronograph is the one standout from the 50’s. Few watches can match its case size, timeless design and quality of manufacture.

Unlike the many Swiss brands that turned out cool looking watches by assembling quality components from multiple suppliers, Angelus was among the elite group of watchmakers who built in-house complicated chronographs decades ago. The Angelus Chronodato Steel is one of the earliest full calendar chrono wristwatches, it proved to be popular among mid-20^th century customers.

Since its early stages, Angelus excelled not only at creating high quality movements, but also at designing them for ultimate legibility. Instead of scrunching up the calendar around the center of the dial like many other brands, the Angelus Chronodato Steel gave each register plenty of breathing room and arranged the day and date windows in a pleasant symmetrical layout. The date displayed at the outer edge of the dial, marked by a red-tipped hand.

At first glance, this Angelus Chronodato Steel from 1942 appears to be a simple vintage chrono, but a closer look let’s one appreciate its thoughtfully-designed functionality.

Just like many others, Angelus is one of the old Swiss chronograph masters that couldnt survive the Quartz Crisis. They succumbed to the changing international watch market and shuttered their factory, leaving behind some of the finest chronos of the mid-century.

Luckily, they left behind some amazing artifacts, and since Angelus is only in the nascent stages of a collecting revival, the value proposition of these watches is pretty incredible for any collector.

Submitted by Analog Shift.