PREVIEW OF RARE FIND ~ AUTHENTIC VINTAGE CUERVO Y SOBRINOS HABANA GENTS WRISTWATCH

IRHOMDEYS VINTAGE COLLECTION PROUDLY PRESENTS
AUTHENTIC VINTAGE CUERVO Y SOBRINOS HABANA BY GRAND PRIX ELECTION LARGE GENTS WRISTWATCH

BRAND/JENAMA: CUERVO Y SOBRINOS HABANA

MADE IN/BUATAN: SWISS BY ELECTION WATCH COMPANY

CIRCA/TAHUN: 1950's

MODEL: MILITARY

CRYSTAL/CERMIN: ACCRYLIC CLEAN/BERSIH

MOVEMENT/ENJIN: SWISS ELECTION 17 JEWELS MANUAL WINDING MOVEMENT

DIAL COLOR: SHINNING TWO TONE SILVER LOTUS DESIGNED DIAL WITH LARGE SUB SECOND DIAL AT 6:00

FUNCTION/FUNGSI: MILITARY

HANDS/JARUM: GOLD TONE / KEEMASAN

MARKERS/TANDA WAKTU: RAISED GOLD TONE STICK & ARABIC

CASING : STAINLESS STEEL/KELULI SEPENUHNYA

LUGS: 18mm

MEASUREMENT/UKURAN: 39mm DIAMETER INCLUDING CROWN and 44mm LUG TO LUG

DITANDA/ENGARVED BACK CASING: CUERVO Y SOBRINOS ~ S/N 727080

CROWN: SS/ KELULI

STRAP/TALI: GENUINE BROWN LEATHER BAND

SIZE STRAP/SAIZ TALI: 8.5"

EXCELLENT CONDITION, WORKING, KEEPING TIME, DISCONTINUED MODEL VERY RARE AND HARD TO FIND

PRICE/HARGA: RM1,400 (NEGOTIABLE/BOLEH DIRUNDING)

BRIEF HISTORY OF CUERVO Y SOBRINOS HABANA WATCHES

At the end of the 19th century, Havana, the pearl of the Caribbean, became a meeting place for intellectuals, businessmen and world figures, as well as adventurers and sailors. On this island, time has always had another dimension--a realm where awareness and a carefree lifestyle co-existed and gave rise to the freedom of being.

It was in this unique atmosphere that Armando Rio y Cuervo and his brothers ran the jewellery and watchmaking business founded by their uncle Ramon (hence the name, Cuervo y Sobrinos--"Cuervo and Nephews"). In the spring of 1882, the family opened its "La Casa" shop on Havana's prestigious Avenida Quinta (Fifth Avenue).

As evidenced by the guest book and photographs that first came to the light only a few years ago, discovered in the basement rooms of the old La Casa shop, Ernest Hemingway, Enrico Caruso, Clark Gable, Winston Churchill and even Albert Einstein were among the Cuervo y Sobrinos shop's customers.

The brand-heritage of "another time" In less than half a century, the marriage of watch quality with the brand's Latin spirit conquered the Americas. Several leading watch brands (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Election and Longines) associated their names with that of Cuervo y Sobrinos to co-produce Havana timepieces.

During the 1890s, Cuervo y Sobrinos expanded its production network and opened three other outlets in European nerve centres. At a time when most European luxury-product manufacturers were expanding to other continents, Cuervo y Sobrinos dared to go in the opposite direction. It successfully established itself on the Old Continent: at Pforzheim, Germany, where the company choose noble materials such as gold and precious stones; in the heart of Paris, on Rue Mezlay, where the most prestigious jewellery was produced; and at La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland, where the watches were created.

For its select clientele--international figures from the worlds of literature, science, film and politics--a stop at La Casa in the centre of Havana became as important as a visit to the great jewellers on Place Vendome in Paris or New York's Fifth Avenue. During the 1940s, when the brand was at its peak, Cuervo y Sobrinos watches were not just high-end timepieces--they also represented a lifestyle and a way of thinking.

Any dreams Cuervo y Sobrinos had of conquering the watch world however, were dashed by the Cuban revolution of 1959. Some of the Cuervo family sought exile in Europe and the business slowly fell into oblivion. For 40 years, the brand lay dormant, remembered only by connoisseurs.

A new era of Latin time

In 2001, Italian Marzio Villa re-launched the brand that had been hibernating for four decades by buying the rights to the brand name and acquiring access to the company's archives, which had been forgotten in the La Casa basement in Havana.

Three enormous trunks were discovered, which revealed a fabulous heritage: intact watch movements and documents never made public, including watch sketches and designs. New principal premises were established in Lugano in Canton Ticino, with production entrusted to various famous watchmaking firms in the Jura Valley.

Inspired by this hidden treasure, today's watch designers have reproduced the spirit of escape, refinement and the glamorous golden age of Havana in a modern way.

Pleasure of the senses. Pleasure of time. The Cuervo y Sobrinos collection is 100 per cent Swiss-made, but with a distinctive Latin flavour.

Responding to the very essence of the 1940s atmosphere of luxury and refinement, the Cuervo y Sobrinos collection is based on projects, designs and sketches elaborated by watchmakers during this period--a time during which the concepts of elegance were completely revaluated. To recall the Latin origin of the brand, today's manufacturers integrate details like blue indigo colour markings in every timekeeper. It confers aesthetic harmony, as well as a unique and inimitable identity to each watch.

The brand presented its complete collection at the Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show in 2003.

In 2005, Cuervo y Sobrinos launched its own proprietary movement, the CYS 2450, developed with movement's specialists in the Jura watch valley. The movement was first fitted inside the Esplendido single push-piece chronograph. It was later joined by the CYS 2854 proprietary movement, which drives the Robusto Tourbillon with a silicon tourbillon cage and hands.

For five years, Cuervo y Sobrinos has manufactured several timekeepers of Haute Horlogerie like the Robusto Tricalendografo, the Torpedo 3004 or Tour de Espana and the Eplendidos Grande Date Dualtime model presented at Baselworld 2006.