Eberhard Pre-Extra Fort Bicompax Chronograph in Steel – Cal. 16000

Elegant Eberhard & Co. Pre-Extra Fort model chronograph from 1947-1949. The combination of the late-1940s serial number, the calibre 1600 (based on the Valjoux 65) and the absence of the Extra Fort signature on the dial confirms that, from both a technical and a collector’s standpoint, this is an Eberhard Pre-Extra Fort. 

The watch features the classic bicompax layout and a silvered dial with Base 1000 tachymeter scale. The steel case, the rectangular chronograph pushers and the strongly domed crystal underline the typical aesthetic of post-war Eberhard chronographs.

• Brand: Eberhard & Co.
• Collection: Pre-Extra Fort 
• Period: 1947-1949
• Movement: Hand-wound mechanical 16-ligne chronograph movement introduced in the late 1930s and derived from the Valjoux 65 base. Column-wheel switching. The chronograph functions are controlled by a refined column wheel, an architecture that ensures smooth and precise chronograph engagement. Slide complication (Eberhard patent): this calibre was designed with a peculiar operation, the pusher at 2 o’clock controls the standard functions, while the lower key at 4 o’clock is not an ordinary pushbutton but a locking slide. Moving it made it possible to lock the time measurement and restart it without resetting the hands, an avant-garde technical solution designed to record intermediate times.
• Calibre: 16000
• Case serial number: 1034214
• Case: Stainless steel
• Case diameter: 35 mm
• Dial: Silvered, bicompax layout with applied indices, applied Arabic numerals at 12 and 6 and peripheral Base 1000 tachymeter scale
• Strap: Brown leather
• Buckle: Signed 
• Crown: Signed
• Condition: Used 
• Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph with central seconds and 30-minute counter
• Case back: Snap-on, in stainless steel, signed Eberhard & Co. and numbered 1034214