# Seeking information on Swiss-Made Cornavin watches



## TimeZero (Oct 20, 2008)

I have a circa 1967 Cornavin watch that I inherited from my grandfather. It has a manual movement, and the watch dial bears the inscription "Cornavin Geneve" and "17 Rubis Incabloc" and "Swiss Made." There is also an illustrated logo that appears to be a coat of arms of some sort - two lions, standing on a pedastal, appear to be holding a shield. Some photos of the watch are attached, so you all can see what I mean.

There seems to be precious little published about this brand. What I have discovered in the course of my research is that Cornavin watches were at one time produced in Switzerland, but that at some time in the late 1960s or early 1970s, production was shifted to Russia (one post I read indicated that occurred in the '80s, so I'm not sure if there's a concensus on that point). My watchmaker has assured me that my watch definitely houses a swiss movement, so whenever it occurred, my watch appears to have been produced beforehand.

I have seen the TZ article about the Russian made Cornavin "Dolphin", but this watch is obviously nothing like that one.

This watch has tremendous sentimental value to me, and I'd like to know as much about it as I can. I'm curious if any of you can identify the model, give me information about it, and about the company, particularly at the time this model was produced.

Thank you all for your time.


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## Marrick (May 2, 2007)

I know nothing! But Chascomm does - see this thread:

https://www.watchuseek.com/showthread.php?t=171339

BTW, Cornavin appears to be a district of Geneva. Great looking watch.:-!


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## kurtnz (Jul 22, 2009)

Pritchard lists 3 companies with the Cornavin trade name.
One is Adolf Müller, Cornavin Watch, Geneve. The company was listed in 1966.
An other is Helbros Watch Co.Inc. Geneve, New York, Los Angeles, Neuchatel. Pritchard lists several trade names for this watch including Cornavin. The company assembled watches using various ebauches and imported them into the US through their New York subsidiary. 
It also lists Cornavin Watch SA, Geneve. The company was listed in 1966 for watch making for export.
A photo of the movement could possibly identify which one of the company listed made your watch.


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## TimeZero (Oct 20, 2008)

Thank you both. I will try to get a photo of the movement and post it shortly. I was a little reluctant to open the case - I have the tools to open it, but haven't opened snap-back cases before, so I am concerned I may damage the watch or that I won't get it closed properly!


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## bjohnson (Nov 28, 2006)

*be careful*

be careful if there isn't a visible groove for a blade, it might be a front-loader style in which the crystal is removed and the movement comes out the front


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## John MS (Mar 17, 2006)

TimeZero said:


> I have a circa 1967 Cornavin watch that I inherited from my grandfather. It has a manual movement, and the watch dial bears the inscription "Cornavin Geneve" and "17 Rubis Incabloc" and "Swiss Made." There is also an illustrated logo that appears to be a coat of arms of some sort - two lions, standing on a pedastal, appear to be holding a shield. Some photos of the watch are attached, so you all can see what I mean.
> 
> There seems to be precious little published about this brand. What I have discovered in the course of my research is that Cornavin watches were at one time produced in Switzerland, but that at some time in the late 1960s or early 1970s, production was shifted to Russia (one post I read indicated that occurred in the '80s, so I'm not sure if there's a concensus on that point). My watchmaker has assured me that my watch definitely houses a swiss movement, so whenever it occurred, my watch appears to have been produced beforehand.
> 
> ...


The movement could be one of several 17 jewel handwind movements, but a search of the link below returned several Venus handwind movements with center seconds identified with Cornavin. Yours may be another Venus movement with a sub-second set-up. Or it could be a movement from Peseux or other movement makers. That simple and elegant style with thin case, minimal bezel and sub-seconds was a popular design from the late 1950's through the mid 1960's and several companies produced compact movements to fit the style.

Unless you have the tools and a real interest in opening the watch yourself you might hold off. If you are going to use it a cleaning and reoiling by a watchmaker is advised. He could tell you which movement is inside at the same time.

http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk

When you have a moment be sure and document the history of that fine looking heirloom for future generations.


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## Sparti (Mar 27, 2017)

Beautiful late 60s watch, I love seeing that vintage that avoids the sweep and maintains the sub-seconds. Now as to your inquiry: I see that there is an association between Cornavin and Russia, possibly they coexisted with the Swiss Made timepieces. Thus, I don't think you're correct about any shift in production to Russia, at least not "sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s." In the mid to late 1990s, I bought this Cornavin/Geneve 200 meter Pro-diver from a reputable online dealer, possibly Cool Vintage Watches, though I can't be certain which one now. As you can see below, my diver has a solid look and feel that would not have existed until several decades later. The watch has not been opened since it was purchased, but it has a unidirectional bezel, quick set screw down crown, and likely is powered by a hackable ETA 2824-? that's still keeping very accurate time.







I hope you'll find this information somewhat useful and please keep me posted on any future updates about Cornavin/Geneve. 
Best of luck to you.


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## bubba48 (Jan 25, 2012)

Very nice watch.

This is mine Swiss Cornavin


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## Hartmut Richter (Feb 13, 2006)

Lovely watch! Any idea on the movement? My guess would be a Venus Cal. 221 but that is supposed to have a central seconds hand.....

bidfun-db Archiv: Uhrwerke: Venus 221

Hartmut Richter


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## Chascomm (Feb 13, 2006)

Sparti said:


> I see that there is an association between Cornavin and Russia, possibly they coexisted with the Swiss Made timepieces. Thus, I don't think you're correct about any shift in production to Russia, at least not "sometime in the late 1960s or early 1970s." In the mid to late 1990s, I bought this Cornavin/Geneve 200 meter Pro-diver...


Over on the Russian forum we have not seen any examples of post-Soviet Cornavins made in Russia or Belarus, apart from unsold old stock Soviet pieces. Given that Cornavin continue to exist and seem to be based in Switzerland, the logical conclusion is that in the post-Soviet break-up of the Russian watch industry, the economic advantage of continuing production there for foreign brands was lost (see also Cardinal, Serkissof, Sekonda and Marathon), so Cornavin took production back to Switzerland. Modern Cornavins are Swiss made.

Bear in mind that when we talk about a "shift in production" for a brand like this, it means outsourcing to another manufacturer, not establishing their own facilities in another country. I doubt that Cornavin actually build their own Swiss made watches.

I don't recall seeing any confirmed 1970s all-Swiss Cornavin produced in parallel with their Soviet and Soviet/HongKong products, but perhaps such things exist.


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## Planet_Ocean_UK (Jan 14, 2018)

Resurrecting this thread as I too would like a little more information on Cornavin Geneve swiss made mechanical watches.....

I have just picked up this elegant timepiece and trying to find out roughly the year of manufacture, any information would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 14006919


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## bubba48 (Jan 25, 2012)

Here some info

https://watch-wiki.org/index.php?title=Cornavin_Watch_Co

My Datocor


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## Planet_Ocean_UK (Jan 14, 2018)

thanks for the info Bubba, lovely watch too, very classic in appearance.


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## wristroll13 (Jun 6, 2020)

picked this up as an impulsive, cheap buy with little knowledge of the brand history but fell in love with the sunburst dial and gold detailing, domed glass looks too good of condition to be original but has sparked an interest in the brand history nonetheless and am really enjoying how it plays in the sun. have struggled to find any information on this model so any advice (or where to look) would be greatly appreciated









Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


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