The Reason

An example of an iconic early Corum wristwatch illustrating the companies diverse product range of watches.

History

Although coins were popular as timepieces, they were also produced as small fob watches with covers on them. It was the introduction of the “sapphire” crystal in the early 1960’s that led Corum to the creation of this watch. The whole concept was radically different than anything else on the market at the time. The model was created and registered in 1964. The first 12 pieces sold immediately even before they could be shown at the 1965 Basel Fair. The coin is called the “Double Eagle” but there is actually only one Eagle. This name was chosen to differentiate the $20 denomination from the $10 coin which is known as just the “Eagle.”

(Text supplied courtesy of Corum)

Functions

Manually wound movement with minute and hour hands time indication.

Snap on case back removed.

Under side of case back showing the black seal ensuring the case remains water resistant.

The machine engraved case reference on the inner case back surrounded with spotting.

The case back removed showing the movement held in place by its movement ring and in turn inside of the case-centre.

The movement with winding stem returned into its winding position.

The movement with dial face still on showing the names Corum and Automatic on the flat sections of the coins surface at 9 and 3 o'clock.

Rear view of the movement with the movement ring still in place.

The hands removed showing the unobstructed coin surface.

The coin dial removed showing the under side of the movement and the thinness of the remaining coin.

The underside of the coin has two dial feet indexing the dial in place.

The movement free from its ring.

The Frederique Piguet movement personalised by Corum.

The under side of the movement. The main-plate is decorated with spotting.

The rotor removed is normally held in place by 3 small screws.

The rotor with CORUM brand name etched into the surface.

With the rotor mass removed the full form of the bridges can be seen, shown decorated with Geneva stripes.

The balance cock and wheel assembly removed.

The Swiss anchor and its bridge removed.

The first wheel in the automatic train that meshes with the rotor removed.

The Frederique Piguet logo.

The main train and automatic bridge removed.

Close up revealing the trains. The steel wheel in the centre is the escape wheel.

The automatic and train wheels partly removed.

The barrel bridge removed revealing the two barrels.

The barrels mesh directly with each other, one winding the other.

The fully dismantled movement.

Summary

A simple but well-made execution of a coin watch, these watches were made from original gold dollar coins. Although this is simple in concept the manufacture of the case and dial from vintage gold coins carry certain risks whilst cutting, and machining the coins to repurpose them whilst protecting their intrinsic aesthetics. This watch reflects the diverse nature of CORUMS historic timepieces.