Stopwatch ID and Query on rear stamp

[robin]

Hi,

I have stopwatch I haven’t quite been able to find an exact match for. It has a black anodised rear and front rim around the glass and a silver centre section.

I’m also curious about the rear which has an SW1 stamped into the real metal cover, with the handwritten reference number no longer legible on the rear sticker.

I’d be grateful if anyone can help me identify the model and also the significance of the SW1 stamp.

Kind regards,
Robin

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[ikonic stopwatch]

Dear Robin,

Thanks for your message.

As you said your HEUER stopwatch is not in the commercial catalogs. Anodised case was used from the very late 60’s. According to the website smilodone this model is a ref. 401.213, with a dial customized for “Prestons Timer Division Bolton”, which looked to be a UK time device retailer located in the Lancashire. Browsing the internet, it appears “Prestons Timer Division Bolton” had a speciality to supply decimal stopwatch (1/100th of minute register) with a 30 minute recoder, a configuration mainly for scientific purposes. They worked a lot with Omega but also offered HEUER stopwatches like yours.

For the SW1 stamped on the back, can not say ecactly what it is stand for. It could be an intern reference used for the retailer (SW for stopwatch ?). Here is a video of a “Preston” Omega stopwatch with a (WS) stamp on the back (Btw, look how the dials are similar, could guess Preston asked for Omega and HEUER to design a specific dial).

Best regards.

[robin]

Hi,

Thank you very much for the reply and for the more in-depth background about the stopwatch I have. It’s very interesting and maybe the SW-1 on the back was because it was the first one off the production line. Maybe my grandad had some sort of connection with Preston Timer Division. I’ll have to see if I can find that out.

Thank you again for your help.

Kind regards,

Robin

[ikonic stopwatch]

Hello Robin,

Glad to have helped you. Don’t hesitate to write back if you have more informations about the SW-1. By the way, it’s highly probable this retailler still exists and the original shop was still opened until 2017 : Prestons of Bolton: The Diamond Centre of the North (prestonsdiamonds.co.uk).

Best regards

[ikonic stopwatch]

Short precision about anodised case. Anodised cases start to be used in the very late 50’s with the century line but they became a standart in the very late 60’s/early 70’s. Btw, found in the 61/62 century line catalog a stopwatch with a similar configuration than yours (ref. 81.213); you can find a scan on onthedash.com website. However the crown and the case makes thinking your grand dad’s timer is more a customized 401.213 like it was said on smilodone website.

Best regards

[Author]

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