The Valjoux 7750

Rendered obsolete in the late 1970s, Edmond Capt's wonder movement is not only back, but selling 200,000 units a year

-  MARK MCARTHUR-CHRISTIE

UNLESS YOU'RE FORTUNATE enough to have a watch with a manufacture movement (one made in-house), yours will be an ébauche; an engine made by a specialist maker and bought-in by a watch firm. If it's a chronograph, chances are there'll be a Valjoux 7750 behind the caseback hence the old Swiss saying: 'Vous n'êtes jamais à plus de 1.83m d'un Valjoux 7750. It's probably the single most common mechanical chronograph movement.

It very nearly wasn't like this. When the 7750 started life as a young movement back in 1973, the watch industry had hit a peak of craftsmanship, tech and materials quality. It meant Seiko, Zenith and an alliance of Breitling, Buren and Heuer were all able to claim the release of the first automatic chronograph movement within a sneeze of each other: the cal.6139, El Primero and cal. 11/Chronomatic, respectively.

All of a sudden, venerable Valjoux was left wondering what had happened. The firm needed a new automatic chronograph movement to offer a cost-effective competitor.