Tiffany Ladies Watch

It has been some time since I last reviewed a watch. This is a small review of a Tiffany & Co Ladies Diver watch. This is not my watch. It belongs to a good friend. The watch is from the 90s. It not known who makes this watch for Tiffany & Co.

Collection: unknown

Manufacturer: Tiffany & Co

Model: unknown

Basic specifications:

Functions: Hours, minutes,seconds and date

Case: Stainless steel

Crystal: Sapphire (?)

Movement: ETA 956.412

Water resistant: 30 ATM

CASE

The case is a 3 part case, case, case back and bezel and is made of stainless steel. It has the MOD (Ministry of Defence, UK) style design case popular in the 80s and 90s. This case design has been seen on other brands including Sinn, Tag Heuer, Yema and Tutima. The case is well made and has a brushed finish. The case measures 33 mm across and is 8 mm thick. This includes the case back and bezel. The lug width is 16 mm.

There are four pieces that looks like 'case holders' at the 2, 4 8 and 10 o'clock position. These pieces are polished and is held in place by a screw each. They are decorative in nature.

The bezel (30 mm diameter) is polished and provides a nice contrast to the brushed case. The bezel is easy to use if you grip it at the correct position. The four case holder pieces tends to get in the way in turning the bezel. The bezel takes 60 clicks to complete a full circle.

The bezel insert has the usual diver markings, but the minute index is extended beyond the usual 15 or 20 minutes. Nice touch. The bezel has a luminous pip at the 12 o'clock position, but the luminosity is long gone.

The crown is at the 3 o'clock position. It measures 5.5 mm in diameter and 5 mm thick. It is very easy to use as the crown is very large. In fact the crown is rather large for the watch. The crown is protected by crown shoulder guard typical of a divers watch. The crown is unsigned and has a polish finish. The crown is screw down to provide the high water resistant rating.

The case back is off the screw back design. It is polish at the circumference and engine turned in the center. The case back is signed TIFFANY & CO and Swiss at one end. The rest of the markings includes the water resistant rating, which is 30 ATM, stainless steel and perhaps the model and serial number, model number L0710.

Inside the case back, we find that it is also signed T & Co in the center and at the top. The case is Swiss made as indicated and the movement use is also engraved to the case back. In this case it is fitted with the Tiffany & Co Caliber (ETA) 956.412.

MOVEMENT

The watch comes fitted with the 8 3/4 ligne ETA 956.412, 7 jewel quartz movement. This movement is a basic 3 hand movement with a date complication. The second hand is centrally mounted and the date display is at the 3 o'clock position. The date has a quick set function. The hand size for the movement is 70/120/20 and is powered by a 362 size battery. The crown has the usual 3 position setting, IN - normal position, 1 - date adjustment and 2 - for time adjustment.

DIAL

The dial is matte black. I like the dial. It is easy to read. This coming from a guy who has both long and short sightedness. The hour index is typical diver design with round hour markers, except for the 12, 6 and 9 o'clock position. The 12 o'clock is marked by a triangle while the 6 and 9 o'clock has the baton markers. There is no markers at the 3 o'clock position as the date display is there.

I especially like the 'railroad track' minute index marks. It is finished in silver as is the Tiffany & Co signature at the 12 o'clock position, the rectangle around the date window (to make the date stand out) and the Swiss Made at the 6 o'clock position. The dial is simple and clean.

HANDS

The hands are well made and is polished. From what I can see, the finish is even throughout the hands. The hands, again typical of a diver watch design has adopted the Mercedes hands. I like this design as it is easy to differentiate the hour hand from the minute. The hour hand has the 'Mercedes logo'. I like the fact that the minute hands extend and touches the minute marker. It makes telling the time easier.

All the hands are luminous (lume long gone). I like the fact that the second hand is luminous via a dot. This is helpful to indicate (while diving) that the watch is still working. The second hand falls exactly on the index marks. As you can see from the photographs, there are some luminous material missing from the minute hand. I told the owner that this is an easy repair and most good watch maker can fill the luminous material.

Also from the photographs, you can see that corrosion has started to 'eat' the edges of the hands. This is very clear on the seconds hand. I told the owner that the watch is in need of a service and to check if it still water resistant. I did lubricate the gasket (o-ring) when I removed the case back.

CRYSTAL

I believe that the crystal is sapphire. It does not seem to have any anti-reflection coating.

STRAP

I was informed that the watch originally came with leather strap. It has since been replaced by a generic black nylon strap.

I find the watch an interesting watch. I tried to find out more on the Internet, but there were none. It is a nice watch and will look even better once the owner sends it in for a service.