Fab 1970's Sicura Blue/Black Dial Manual Winding Watch
In lovely condition, with a perfect black/blue dial, a Sicura watch dating to the mid 1970's
With a very heavy 36mmx38mm chromed case with the elaborate "Sicura" back, an oval dial, with date at six - All working as it should, and keeping time.
The history of Sicura is one of the most fascinating survival stories in Swiss watchmaking. While mostly forgotten today, Sicura is the brand that saved and rebuilt Breitling during the height of the Quartz Crisis. Sicura began in 1939 as "Joh. Gobber, Horlogerie" in Granges, Switzerland. After several name changes, it officially became Montres Sicura SA in 1955. Following the passing of early leadership, the company was taken over by Ernest Schneider in the early 1960s. Schneider, a brilliant engineer, former Swiss Army officer, and passionate pilot, completely transformed the brand's business model: Instead of competing with high-end luxury Swiss brands, Schneider focused on mass-producing fashionable functional, and affordable watches. To keep production costs remarkably low, Sicura predominantly used brass-plated cases and economical Roskopf pin-lever movements rather than expensive jewelled lever escapements. By the mid-1970s, Sicura became an absolute powerhouse of production. The brand operated four assembly plants alongside dedicated case and jewel factories, employing nearly 500 people and churning out over 1 million watches a year. They became iconic for their distinct, oversized, and adventurous vintage aesthetics, which included: Eye-catching models like the Submariner 400 and the Sicura Sea Ranger. Complex-looking chronographs, multi-bezel GMTs (like the Globetrotter), and distinct mechanical "Jump Hour" digital displays. When the Quartz Crisis hit in the late 1970s, traditional luxury mechanical watchmakers faced financial ruin. Willy Breitling was forced to shut down the iconic Breitling corporation and lay off his staff in 1978. Seeing a historic opportunity, Ernest Schneider bought the Breitling name and its core trademarks in April 1979. Because Sicura had successfully pivoted to producing early quartz and multi-function digital models, it had the cash reserve to fund the purchase. Schneider chose to aggressively pour resources into restoring the legendary Breitling heritage. As a result, the cheaper Sicura-branded watch production was slowly wound down throughout the 1880s. Finally, in 1993, Montres Sicura SA officially changed its corporate name to Breitling SA, sealing the legacy transition.
