Juvenia

Juvenia

Arithmo

Circa 1950

Silvered dial with gilt Arabic and baton numerals and gilt hour, minute and seconds hands, fully signed

Original manual movement

£3,500

The Juvenia Arithmo, introduced in 1945, is a practical timepiece allowing the wearer to perform many calculations with the instalment of a slide rule scale with a rotating bezel. A similar design concept can be seen with the Mimo Loga and Breitling Chronomat models. Before the electronic calculator came around, the slide rule was one of the more valuable and useful accessories one could own. Once you understand how the slide rule system works, you can calculate complicated equations, applied to anything from engineering to trigonometry needs. The Arithmo allows the wearer to never forget their slide rule at home as it is always right there on their wrist - I'm certainly not intelligent enough to use it - but perhaps you are?! Juvenia marketed the Arithmo back in the day as "the first practical calculating watch." While there were others on the market, the brand believed it to be the only practical option. This may be debatable, and we're sure Breitling had something to say about it back in the 1940s. Maybe this opinion of practicality is rooted in the crystal construction of the Arithmo, which was certainly unique to this watch. When the wearer rotates the bezel, the outer plexiglass portion rotates with it while the inner, over the centeredial, remains fixed. The Arithmo we have here is a bit less common than your standard, it's the outsize 42mm diameter steel case with yellow gold lugs. the movement and slide rule are working fine, the condition of the case, and to some extent the dials is best described as 'proper vintage' - but given its 70'ish year age were it to be in minty condition one would have to be very suspicious of it. It's a great watch to wear and a terrific conversation piece to wear to dinner - sooooo much more fun than yet another boring Rolex Sub!