Superb Accurist "Shock Absorber" 21 Jewel Dress Watch

In just superb condition, a lovely late 1970's Accurist watch in a 33mmx36mm gold plated case, the dial is perfect, the whole watch is about as good as you will find.

Accurist is one of the most famous names in British watchmaking. Founded in 1946 by husband and wife Asher and Rebecca Loftus in London's Clerkenwell district, the brand built its reputation by blending Swiss precision engineering with accessible, high-street pricing. Over the decades, Accurist transformed from a boutique importer into a cultural icon deeply woven into British history. The Loftuses originally imported Swiss watches to resell, but they quickly decided to establish their own brand name—a portmanteau of "accurate" and "wrist". Accurist became the first watch company to heavily promote the "21-jewel lever movement". Their tagline, "Accurist 21 Jewels", set a new quality benchmark across the competitive UK market. Breaking away from traditional print, Accurist became a household name by launching regular television advertisements on Sunday Night at the London Palladium, the country’s most-watched television programme of the era. Under the creative guidance of the founders' son, Richard Loftus, Accurist capitalised on the booming youth culture of the 1960s. [Launched globally in 1967, the Old England Range collection of brightly coloured, boldly designed fashion watches became an instant hit. They were famously worn by The Beatles, Twiggy, and Princess Anne, cementing Accurist's ties to Carnaby Street fashion. As the quartz crisis shook the mechanical watch world in the 1970s, Accurist quickly embraced digital LED and LCD innovations. Their high reliability led to Accurist digital quartz watches being selected as the official timepieces for Concorde pilots. A highly memorable comedic television campaign starring John Cleese kept the brand at the absolute forefront of British popular culture. Facing immense pressure from global manufacturing changes, the brand made structural shifts under Andrew Loftus. In 1983, Accurist moved its primary manufacturing base from Switzerland to Japan. This increased efficiency, slashed production costs, and spurred an incredible 500% business growth in the UK while maintaining strict reliability. In 1986, Accurist became the first official sponsor of British Telecom’s (BT) Speaking Clock. For over two decades, millions of Britons daily heard the iconic phrase: "At the third stroke, the time sponsored by Accurist will be...". By 1993, Accurist was the largest watch brand in the UK by value. They were commissioned to supply the Atomic Clock at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. Later in 1997, they built the highly precise satellite-controlled Millennium Countdown Clock, cementing themselves as the ultimate keepers of British time. In 2014, after nearly 70 years as a family-run business, Accurist was acquired by Time Products Ltd (the parent company of Sekonda). Today, Accurist remains headquartered in the UK and undergoes regular contemporary redesigns. They maintain a "heritage-first" design philosophy, digging into their historic archives—such as their 1970s Brutalist architecture-inspired shapes—and retrofitting them with premium modern materials like sapphire crystal glass and solid stainless steel.