1970s Capri with Swiss Ronda 1239-21 (21 jewels) automatic movement *VERY RARE*

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Seller: past_times4u ✉️ (785) 100%, Location: Aylesbury, GB, Ships to: GB & many other countries, Item: 296149662727 1970s Capri with Swiss Ronda 1239-21 (21 jewels) automatic movement *VERY RARE*.

1970s Capri with a Ronda 1239-21 (21 jewels) Swiss automatic movement which runs at 21,600 bph/6 'ticks' per second. This watch has an acrylic crystal in lovely condition and features a stainless steel case housing an electric silvery purple dial with chrome baton indices and matching hour/minute hands and a contrasting red seconds hand. CAPRI AUTOMATIC is printed in white below 12 o’clock and 21 RUBIS (meaning rubies, i.e. jewels) SHOCK PROTECTED is printed above 6 o’clock in white. Below and between 6 o’clock is printed SWISS MADE in white. There is a day/date window at 3 o’clock with red lettered days on a white background and white numbered dates on a red background. The day language is Portuguese (*see below). The day is set by +/- 24h and the date is quickset by reverse setting. The screw caseback is embossed with ANTIMAGNETIC | ALL STAINLESS STEEL | WATERPROTECTED around the circumference and in the middle is a logo of a stylised “S” in a triangle inside a circle with 6335 below it. The watch is fitted on a (possibly original?) black “Italian Croco Calf ANTI-ALLERGIC” leather strap which is in excellent condition with no sign of wear. Water resistance rating is unknown and has not been tested. Considering its age, this particular watch is in pretty much pristine condition with just a few fairly insignificant marks. It works perfectly and also keeps accurate time. Classic 1970s design and a rare watch indeed.

All of the photographs shown in this listing are of the exact watch that you will receive. 1-3 & 12 are the most recent images and 4-11 are slightly older “studio-style” images.

*Day wheel abbreviation letters depicted on this watch for each day of the week (in Portuguese) and their equivalent English translation:

DOM (for Domingo) = Sunday

SEG (for Segunda-feira) = Monday

TER (for Terça-feira) = Tuesday

QUA (for Quarta-Feria) = Wednesday

QUI (for Quinta-feira) = Thursday

SEX (for Sexta-feira) = Friday

SAB (for Sábado) = Saturday


Approximate dimensions of case: diameter 37mm (excluding crown), lug to lug 41mm, thickness 13mm (including crystal).


About the watch brand:

According to Mikrolisk - The horological trademark index, Capri was a brand of Moise Dreyfus / Fabrique de Montres Rotary (Rotary Watch Factory), Kleinuhren (Watches), Uhrenteile (Watch parts), Schmuck (Jewellery); Genf und La Chaux-de-Fonds, Schweiz (Geneva and La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland).


Moise Dreyfus Ltd was a watchmaking company (active from 1911-1970) founded by Moïse Dreyfuss in 1895 at La Chaux-De-Fonds, Switzerland. Twelve years after the company was founded two of Moïse Dreyfuss’s sons, Georges and Sylvain, moved to England in order to open a London office importing and selling the watches. This move aided the company’s ability to import and distribute watches to a larger customer base so that they could further grow the brand. Britain subsequently became the company's most successful market. In 1925, another son of Moïse Dreyfuss, René, took over the management of the family business in Switzerland under the name Fils de Moise Dreyfuss, Fabrique Enila (Sons of Moise Dreyfus, Enila Factory). At the same time the well known “winged wheel” Rotary logo was also introduced to make the company more recognisable and memorable. It has since undergone only minor changes in appearance. The first anchor watches manufactured under the Rotary brand were created in 1926 and were launched on the market jointly by the Swiss (La Chaux-de-Fonds) and British (London) houses. On 1st July 1956, the company became the general partnership Fabrique de Montres Rotary, Fils de Moise Dreyfuss & Cie (Rotary Watch Factory, Sons of Moise Dreyfus & Co). In 1966, the company name was changed to Rotary Watch Factory SA. The company was still operating in the 1970s as Rotary by which time it had become part of Holding Longines SA, then integrated into the General Watch Company group, which itself then became part of the ASUAG-SSIH group from 1983 (SMH in 1985, today Swatch Group ). René Dreyfuss retired in 1974 and Rotary Watches was sold.

Since 2014, Rotary has been owned by Citychamp Watch & Jewellery Group Limited (an investment holding company known as China Haidian Holdings until 2014). Although Rotary is a member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH), Rotary Watches' head office is now in the U.K., and it is a wholly Chinese-owned company.

In 2005, Robert Dreyfuss, who is the great-grandson of Moïse Dreyfuss re-established the Dreyfuss & Co. brand incorporating vintage design cues first created by René. As a more exclusive watch brand, all of their watches are hand-made in Switzerland and are individually numbered.


About the movement:

Best known for their quartz calibres, Ronda watch movements are used by a huge range of luxury Swiss watch manufacturers from the likes of TAG Heuer to Raymond Weil, Victorinox, Christopher Ward, and Junkers. With a history that spans back to 1946 they are a manufacturer that continually thrives to produce only the best and most accurate movements in the industry and their associations with so many industry kings proves they are doing something right.

Ronda believe that even the most extravagant looking timepiece needs a reliable and accurate movement to keep it in regular motion. Based in the watchmaking capital of the world, Ronda design and create all their calibres in Switzerland and over the past half century have become one of the world’s leading manufacturer in mechanical and precision electronic quartz watch movements.

Although Ronda watch movements were first bought to life in Waldenburg Valley in 1946, the brand’s history spans back much further than this. William Mosset, the founder of Ronda, was born in the village of Holstein on 3rd June 1909. He trained as a precision mechanic while spending most of his spare time experimenting in the workshop he had created in the cellar of his family home. Before long, William created his first invention, a tool that could punch 32 holes precisely and simultaneously into a pillar-plate.

In his late teens William then joined the Oris company to further his education in watch manufacture. At the young age of 22 he was appointed head of his department and became responsible for the production of movement assortment. Despite his success, William couldn’t help but want to establish his own company at the earliest opportunity. So, while working at Oris, he completed a distance learning course which saw him invent a series of small pivoting and polishing machines for the use in watch manufacturing and his greatest achievement, the ‘Carousel’, a milling and drilling machine that enabled 20 operations to be performed one after the other.

On 1st November 1944, William Mosset was finally able to set up his own company with an initial workforce of seven employees. He was able to enter the company in the Commercial Register after the Second World War had ended and decided on the name Ronda. The name was inspired by the French term “arrondir”, referring to the rounding off of the pivot. As the business grew, Ronda began to manufacture balance staffs, stems and pivots for lever movements with a total of 45 employees.

In 1952, Ronda produced their first ever Roskopf and pin pallet movements, otherwise known as ébauches. They found great success with this development however during this time, Swiss authorities were driving hard to grant ébauche production rights solely to its major players. Nevertheless, Ronda won their right to manufacture its own pallet and Roskopf blank movements in 1961 and by the spring of 1971 they had substantially expanded with the addition of five further buildings and 520 employees, with a further 375 personnel working from home.

Just like every other watch movement manufacturer, the quartz crisis hit hard. In the early 1970s the industry was shaken by the arrival of quartz technology which was marketed as being far more accurate and reliable than traditional mechanical movements. In order to adapt to the changing market, Ronda developed its very first quartz watch movement in 1974. Despite sales being slow at first, quartz movements finally broke through in the 1980s all over the world and watches with Ronda quartz movements became affordable fashion accessories.

Sadly, after 46 years of living his dream, William Mosset died unexpectedly in 1985 at the age of 76. The company was passed down to his two children, Elizabeth and Eric. Elizabeth already played a major part in the company while Eric joined after he completed his studies at Zurich’s Federal Institute of Technology in 1989. Under new management, Ronda steadily continued to expand its range of products to include small mechanical movements and quartz movements powered with lithium batteries. 2003 was another huge year for the company with the launch of their Startech line which allowed them to offer multi function movements and chronographs to their clients.

Since then, Ronda has continued to thrive as one of the greatest watch movement manufacturers in the world. They have designed over 30 brand new calibres with the majority of them being highly complex and at Baselworld 2016, they introduced the 11.5 inch R150 caliber which is widely used by luxury watch brands today. From just a young lad experimenting in his family’s basement, Ronda has become an incredible institution worn on the wrist by many.


PLEASE NOTE: THIS WATCH HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE ITALIAN CERAMICS, GLASS, AND FASHION WATCH BRAND COMPANY WITH THE SAME ‘CAPRI’ NAME THAT ARE BASED ON THE RESORT ISLAND OF CAPRI WITH SEVERAL STORES. WHILST THAT COMPANY WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1964, THEY ONLY BEGAN USING THE ‘CAPRI’ NAME FOR THEIR WATCHES IN 1995, LONG AFTER ROTARY HAD STOPPED USING THE BRAND NAME THEMSELVES!


IN STARK CONTRAST, THE ITEM I AM OFFERING FOR SALE HERE IS AN INCREDIBLY RARE AND HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE VINTAGE WATCH FROM THE 1970S IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER AND FANTASTIC CONDITION, LIKELY PRODUCED FOR THE MASSIVE BRAZILIAN WATCH MARKET.

  • Condition: Used
  • Strap Material: Leather
  • Closure: Buckle
  • Strap Colour: Black
  • Number of Jewels: 21 Jewels
  • Indices: Baton Indexes
  • Dial Colour: Purple
  • Year Manufactured: 1970s
  • Customised: No
  • Band/Strap: Two-Piece Strap
  • Vintage: Yes
  • Case Thickness: 13 mm
  • Department: Men, Women, Unisex Adults
  • Case Colour: Silver
  • Caseback: Screwback
  • Lug Width: 18 mm
  • Escapement Type: Lever
  • Watch Shape: Cushion
  • Style: Retro
  • Features: 12-Hour Dial, Acrylic Crystal, Day/Date, Push/Pull Crown, Seconds Hand, Self-Winding, Swiss Made, Swiss Movement
  • Case Size: 37 mm
  • Case Material: Stainless Steel
  • Caliber & Type: Ronda 1239-21 (21 jewels) Swiss automatic
  • Movement: Mechanical (Automatic)
  • Water Resistance: Unknown - Not Tested
  • With Papers: No
  • Brand: Capri
  • Type: Wristwatch
  • With Original Box/Packaging: No
  • Case Finish: Brushed & Polished
  • With Manual/Booklet: No
  • Country/Region of Manufacture: Switzerland
  • Display: Analogue

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