Reference 2447 SF Mareograph | Retailed by E. Gübelin: A rare stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with tide indicator, Circa 1955

The story of the present Mareograph originated not from La Chaux-de-Fonds, but from a small island thousands of miles away in the New World.

The Abercrombie Company was founded in New York City in 1892 by avid outdoorsman David T. Abercrombie, and quickly become the purveyor of choice for luxury sporting and excursion gear, outfitting the some of the wealthiest explorers from the late 19th to 20th centuries. The company was reincorporated Abercrombie & Fitch in 1900 when Abercrombie joined forces with financier Ezra Fitch.

By the 1940s the The Greatest Sporting Goods Store in the World had commissioned Heuer to manufacture high end Swiss-made tool watches that suited the needs of their discerning clientele. These t.mes pieces were signed Abercrombie & Fitch and retailed exclusively in their boutiques.

In the late 1940s, Abercrombie commissioned Heuer to produce a watch based on John Alden Knight's 'solunar theory', postulating that the best dates and t.mes s to hunt and fish can be determined from tide patterns. While the first watch Heuer developed, the Solunar, was a commercial failure, Heuer expanded on this complication, and in 1950 presented the world with the Seafarer, the first chronograph wristwatch with tide indicator and regata countdown to be retailed by Abercrombie & Fitch.

While Heuer manufactured Seafarers from 1950 into the 1970s for Abercrombie, during this period the firm also produced, in much smaller numbers, Heuer signed examples named the Mareograph retailed outside the United States, bringing us back to our present t.mes piece.

The present watch is the 2nd execution of the Reference 2447 SF circa 1955 powered by a modified Valjoux 721 and a beautiful dial design featuring golden hour markers. According to scholarship there are less than 40 known examples of the 2nd execution 2447 SF across both Abercrombie & Fitch signed Seafarers and Heuer signed Mareographs.

What makes the present 2447 SF exceptionally rare is double signed dial by Heuer and its retailer E. Gübelin. To date, the present watch is the only known example of a Heuer Mareograph that was retailed by the prestigious Lucerne jeweler Gübelin.

We are pleased to present this rare piece of history spanning across the Atlantic between three great makers, in beautifully preserved condition.