Rare Concord Delirium I: Important & Thinnest, Full Set
Concord Delirium Très Mince: Swatch & Magique, Rare & Important Full Set Sold by Stern
- Time (Hour, Minute)
WHY WE LOVE IT: There are just a few that important and special and rare watches in the second half of the 20th Century: a high-quality quartz-milestone in a innovative and important case hand-made by Favre & Perret.
A rare and important watch: The model for the best-selling Swiss watch Swatch, for the automatic Audemars Piguet Ra-Tourbillon and for the modern Piaget Altiplano -- all using the Delirium I innovation of using the case-back as movement main-plate. Besides this, it was the thinnest quartz-watch (less than 2mm inclusive crystal) and thus the winner in the race-to-miniaturization and in the early '80s one of the hottest and most expensive watches -- Concord Delirium Tres Mince (sounds Tremens).
Sure, we can go into discussion, but I think I hold a good and excellent defendable position when I call it one of the most important watches of the last five decades. And it is not only important in a horological sense but it is also quite rare. The reason it is so rare is two-fold: it was very expensive (exactly this model was priced DEM21'000 in mid 1979) and it was made just during a short time-span and in low quantities until it was replaced by the more robust Delirium II.
Exactly this example is even more interesting: it is number less than 200 (serial number 19X) of the Concord Delirium I model and was sold just days after introduction to the market in July 1979 by the New York based important Jeweler Stern. The full-set box (incl outer box), guarantee- & manual-document make it a jewel in any collection -- especially when it is focused on electronic watches.
Priced around CHF20'000 back in 1979 it was the hottest watch you could buy -- if you could: on the edge of technology, super-precise and a hand-made case by the case-maker-artisans at Favre & Perret -- yes, they made the Patek 3700 and several other Pateks, too. It is obvious there were not many made and there are even fewer left in beautiful and working condition, yes.
The movement was serviced by us and is working excellent and precise. A fitting battery is included.