Tornek Rayville TR 900 from 1964 – Fully serviced and guaranteed by Blancpain

Tornek Rayville TR 900 from 1964 – Fully serviced and guaranteed by Blancpain

Exceptional and important military diver’s wristwatch from 1964. Today, the TR900 is one of the rarest and most sought-after military watches for collectors. Two series were delivered, one in 1964 and the other in mid-1966 for a total amount of 1,100 watches. All the US military specification MIL-W-22176 were provided by Blancpain through their subsidiary Tornek Rayville as the 1933 “Buy American Act” did not allow the US Navy to directly purchase Swiss Blancpain watches. Allen V Tornek, of the Allen V Tornek was based in New York city and Rayville was an anagram for Villeret Blancpain’s Swiss Town. A small number of these watches was delivered to the US Navy to the “Underwater Demolition Team Divers” that became the Navy Seals later, due to the high price of the watch and then the project was canceled due to its cost.

In the late 1950’s, The Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) used elements from three watches tested: the Rolex Submariner, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, and the Enicar Seapearl 600 to create the specifications for the TR-900. The official report of the Navy Experimental Diving Unit regarding these watches noted the need for a dull case like the Blancpain, rather than a shiny case such as the Enicar and the Rolex which “should not be used in tropical waters where biting fish abide.” The hacking mechanism, humidity indicator, luminous bezel and dial, and most importantly, an easily adjustable rotating bezel, made the Blancpain the ideal choice.

Based on the hodinkee article in June 2018, this is the second timepiece for having been fully serviced. www.hodinkee.com/articles/vintage-tornek-rayville-diving-in-depth

Rare and beautiful Tornek Rayville TR900 with original black round dial and batons and dots to mark the hours. The water tightness indicator comes at 6 o’clock. At the bottom of the dial is written SWISS – PM 147. The watch has a bidirectional bezel with original insert and markings for 15, 30 and 45. The hands are in steel with “Sword” Style. The crown is original. It is a sand blasted steel case with engraved in the back “DANGER RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL 2mo Pm147 11/64 NON-MAGNETIC– IF FOUND RETURN TO NEAREST MILITARY FACILITY AEC LICENSE 8-5970-6 MIL-W-22176 SERIAL 0205. It is an automatic movement with caliber AS 1361 and 17 jewels. The watch comes with a Blancpain NATO strap. The watch has been completely serviced by Blancpain (18 months) and it is coming with the complete service report as well as photos of the watch.

History

Blancpain was founded in 1735 by Jehan-Jacques Blancpain in the village of Villeret in Switzerland. He started making parts and then pocket watches. Blancpain became successful throughout the years and even more in 1931 when it introduced its famous rectangular “Rolls” automatic wristwatch. The long reign of the founding family came to an end in 1932 with the death of Frederic-Emile Blancpain. Because of the lack of family successors, the business was run for the 50 coming years under the name of Rayville. During that time, the famous “Fifty Fathoms” was created in 1953, a technical prowess as the watch was water-resistant to 200 meters. In 1970, Rayville was taking over by the Swiss Watch Group SSIH. In 1982, an Omega employee, Jean-Claude Biver and the movement manufacturer, Jacques Piguet bought the Blancpain name. In 1983, its moon-phase contributed to the reborn of the mechanical wristwatches. Then followed a minute repeater. In 1989, Blancpain introduced a never seen before caliber, an automatic chronograph with split seconds and date. The top watch of the Blancpain collection is the reference 1735, a limited edition of 30 watches. It fits a perpetual calendar, split-seconds chronograph, and tourbillon and minute repeater. In 1992, the Swatch group acquires Blancpain. It remains a company with many different models including alarms, equation of time display and the exclusive manual wound caliber 1330, with its three mainspring barrels, that runs autonomously for a week in a single wind.

Technical details

Automatic movement with caliber AS 1361, 17 jewels and 18,000 A/h. The watch has 42 hours of power reserve.

Measurements

Diameter excluding winding crown: 41mm


Length including lugs: 51mm