One of two Venus 170-based Chronographe Suisse watches in my collection, this one has a nice golden dial and was treated to a full case restoration with re-plating in rhodium. The hands also needed to be replaced, and unfortunately, as you can see, some of the lume separated from the brand-new hour hand (grrrr.). Watch hands that fit these old chronograph movements aren’t all that easy to find, and I didn’t think it was worth the trouble of re-luming both hands (so they would match), so I left it as is.

This Chronograph Suisse really stands out among its contemporaries with its unusual grey dial. I’m honestly not 100% sure about the provenance of this dial. It shows definite signs of age but is nonetheless in remarkably good condition. If it’s a re-dial, it’s extremely well-done. The movement is a tried and true Venus 170 with its column-wheel-driven top/bottom chronograph layout. I’ve serviced several 170s at this point, and they can be tricky to get operating properly. In particular they rely on tension from a number of rather simple and delicate wire springs that don’t age all that well, and the tip of the main operating level that engages with the column wheel is also subject to wear. With some tweaking however the column wheel mechanism operates smoothly and reliably.