Waltham Red Arrow Day-Date, 1960s

— A thread of red through the dial —

Waltham was born in 1850s America and walked alongside a good deal of its history. This hand-wound model comes from the 1960s, when the company was extending its operations into Switzerland, and it concentrates the aesthetics and technique of that moment.

A silver sunray dial carries raised, faintly nostalgic markers in good order; a red arrow seconds hand and a red DAY display in an arched window supply the wit.

— Quiet enthusiasm in the design —

What catches the eye first is the red arrow seconds hand and the red DAY reading in its arched aperture, in harmony with the raised red-and-gold logo crowning twelve o'clock: vintage playfulness and vintage dignity at once. The date at three and the day at six made for an advanced layout at the time, and the balance between usefulness and looks is a happy one.

— A robust mechanism —

Behind the case back is calibre MS 68, a hand-wound movement based on the Swiss ébauche specialist A. Schild's calibre 1904. It runs on 17 synthetic rubies at a gentle 18,000 vph, and the Incabloc shock protection is part of a tough design that still delivers reliable accuracy decades later.

— Warmth on the wrist —

The character the plating has taken on with age, and the solid screw-back case, between them tell the story of the fifty-odd years this watch has already had. On a camel leather strap it sits easily in modern dress.