The fashion for "retro" and "vintage" watches, more precisely, for modern models, "recreated", "rethought" and "accurately conveying the spirit" of watches from the 1950s-1970s, has been steadily holding on for ten years, if not more, and companies large and small, well-known and not so - in a word, everyone is trying to capitalize on the popularity of this style. There is nothing wrong with this, but it is especially nice when a novelty in retro style has a reason to be in the assortment of a particular brand.
Recall that the current Titoni was founded in 1919 and was then called Felco Watch Co., however, soon it was renamed Felca - the watches of this brand were once among the most popular Swiss watches in the world. In the late 1940s, the company launched a second brand, Titoni, which was a smash hit in Singapore and China.
After some time, Titoni “swallowed” the Felca brand and the company began to produce products exclusively under the Titoni brand. We bring all this here to demonstrate that the retro models in the modern Titoni collection have a clear and legitimate origin - the 1950s Felca Bi-compax chronograph watches are the basis of the current Titoni Heritage chronographs.
The Titoni Heritage Bicompax Chronograph is a simple 41mm diameter steel case with the typical bezel edge ridge and a very “vintage” fine line on the strap lugs. The knurled crown is adorned with the old Titoni logo, and there are chronograph pushers on either side of the crown, similar to those often seen on Felca watches in the past.
While the Heritage collection offers several chronograph options, the 94019-S-ST-682 seems to be the most luxurious, thanks to the design of the dial. Matte white, with a bright blue "print" of the tachymeter scale and red - of the telemeter scale. To match the latest red central second hand. The hours and minutes are blue around the perimeter, as they are filled with Super-LumiNova, the "convex" counters with black printed scales also have blue hands, the index numbers are covered with a beige Super-LumiNova luminescent composition - but all this abundance of shades does not look excessive, as On the contrary, everything is in its place.
The Titoni Heritage Chronograph is powered by the Sellita SW 510BHa self-winding chronograph movement, which is built on the basis of the time-tested Valjoux 7750. Since the back case is transparent, the gold-plated rotor is decorated with the brand’s logo – it’s a pity that it’s modern, even if it differs little from the old one. As for the rest, there is nothing to complain about, the recommendation, like that of brokers, is to buy now.
PS In addition to the well-known Swiss watch brands that dominate the mass consciousness, there are many other very interesting companies whose products are sometimes simply amazing. Such companies often go unnoticed by a wide range of consumers, but they are quite satisfied with their existing small (on a global scale), but very loyal clientele. One such company that can offer interesting watches at an affordable price is Titoni. Feel free to look online to see what Felca/Titoni watches have produced in the past and you will certainly want to demand more reissues - here we are with both hands for a full moon phase calendar from 1956…
