Watch auricoste spirotechnique, a military watch of combat swimmer and mine-clearing diver of the French Navy entered in endowment in 1982 in replacement of the models submariner tudor. This rare military watch has its markings on the screwed back of the case and was used among others by the patentees of the swimming course of the CINC of Aspretto. Naval air base of which they used the infrastructures and the air means to train. This training center for combat swimmers, which supported the DGSE and recruited its trainees mainly from the army’s parachute units, was dissolved in 1993 and then relocated to Kellern (CPEOM) in an 11 th shock reconstituted following the rainbow warrior incident in 1985.
The Raimbow Warrior affair broke out in 1, it began with the arrest of the “fake Turenge couple” and will especially shed light on the operational role of the crew of the Ouvéa sailboat in the amphibious sabotage operation of the Greepeace flagship in the port of Aukland. (New Zealand) Composed of three NCOs from the CINC and discreetly repatriated by Xavier Maniguet, skipper of the Ouvéa, this crew will remain out of reach of the New Zealand authorities.
This collector’s watch has a 41.5 mm steel case with a winding crown at five o’clock to protect it from shocks and damage. This atypical position also avoids the temptation to manipulate or wind the watch while it is worn on the wrist, which could weaken the seal or off-center the winding axis, and which is known to be one of the main causes of deterioration in the water-resistance of wristwatches.
Another distinctive element, the dial bears the words Auricoste horloger de la marine with its modern logo and the spirotechnical indication. It is also enriched with an illustration of the eponymous diver of the latter at seven o’clock. The dial also bears the designations profesional, 200 m automatic in the center under the central axis of the skeletonized hour hands and mercedes type for the hours. Under the hour track is indicated T swiss made T indicating a watch with a Swiss origin movement and the use of Tritium to magnify the luminescent parts
The movement of this Swiss made watch, precise, durable and robust, is the second generation ETA 2428 caliber with 25 jewels and a speed of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Htz). Incabloc Novodiac shock absorber, Etachron regulator and Glucydur balance with non-magnetic properties with Nivarox springs. A reliable and easy-to-maintain movement with a power reserve of thirty-eight hours after complete winding.
This collector’s watch is in a perfect state of conservation and constitutes a true exceptional piece, it has its markings of endowment and its history positions it just after the rolex and tudor submariner models of the French Navy used in the previous period.
