The year was 1965; the place was the Basel fair. Corum premiered its ‘Coin Watch’ along with the slogan Time is money, which would rapidly transform into Time in money.
Some pocket watches, equipped with a protective cover, had already used coins in their design, and some watchmakers had tried to use coins in wristwatches. But they used one side of the coin as a retractable cover, while in the latter, the coin served as the caseback; a fragile system that was easily damaged.
René Bannwart, Corum’s owner at the time, decided to eliminate the pocket watch’s cover and use the face of the coin as the dial, an innovation that was made possible by the appearance of the sapphire crystal. The ultra-thin movement was thus placed between the two faces of a cut out coin and enclosed by the circular case whose edges were grooved like those of coin. This model was unique and patented in 1964.
In choosing the $10 American Eagle or the $20 American Double Eagle, Corum immediately became a watch icon in the USA. To add to this, these coins were withdrawn from circulation during the Roosevelt era at the beginning of the 1930s, following the Great Depression, and because of their rarity, quickly acquired value as a collector’s item.
Yet, the Coin Watch almost did not see the light of day. A law in the United States prohibited any ‘mutilation’ of coins on its territory, but after months of complicated negotiations, Corum succeeded in obtaining an exemption, the work of cutting out the coins being carried out in Switzerland and not in the USA.





The obvious rarity of these coins, enhanced by the fact that the Coin Watch was seen on the wrists of several American presidents, made this timepiece an avidly sought after collector’s item in the United States.
After several years of interruption, Corum has now again started production of this unique timekeeper, taking advantage of the brand’s current technical prowess. In this regard, the Coin Watch is emblematic of Corum’s watchmaking approach, which looks for originality and ways to combine the latest in technology with daring creativity.
The new model differs only slightly from the original. With a total thickness of 36 mm for the Double Eagle, and 31.5 mm for the Eagle, making it perfectly suitable for feminine wrists, it is equipped with either an automatic or quartz movement, sapphire crystal, and a redesigned crocodile leather strap or 18 carat gold bracelet. One of the models comes with its crown set with 48 brilliant-cut diamonds.





Source: December - January 2006 Issue

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