All class.

As in fake vintage watches ?

Interesting - it’s been sold as a trench watch but that doesn’t mean anything

It is tiny though, definitely would be a ladies watch in todays market

Might gift it to my wife or one of my daughters once it is tidied up a bit

Found on Quora:

Avia, the perfect vintage watch

If there is a company that is there no more (or at least no more as an interesting watch company), and represents the perfect vintage watch brand, this is Avia.

I am talking about Avia in the new book that I am writing (The Watch Manual: the Brand Guide) - here’s the extract of the company’s history:

One of the most commonly found brands of watches in the vintage market, Avia - Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Montres H. V. Degoumois SA - was a Swiss manufacturer of pocket and wristwatches.

The Avia Watch Company was founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1887, and registering the Avia brand in 1910. In 1933 the company moved to Neuchâtel and focused on the development of the wristwatch.

We know very little of the first years of Avia, as it seems that there were no existing watches from that era bearing the Avia name before 1933. We saw that instead, from around 1935 onwards, Avia became very active, especially in the USA market through its Chicago-based importer, M. A. Mead & Co.

Mead distributed Avia-made military watches, including a timer. The timepiece mounted a complication with a stopwatch that became quite popular between aircrews searching for submarines. These watches were branded Avia or Boulevard.

Another importer bought Avia watches and sold them under different brands. One was Garland. But the most famous was the importing company name, Ball. It was the renowned Ball Watch Company, which in the 1940s switched their supply from American-made movements to Swiss-made ones.

Another company importing and using Avia-made watches was Wittnauer, well-known also for using movements from Longines.

This flourishing business gave a massive boost to the company, which became very popular worldwide in the 1950s and 1960s.

Avia worked as a typical etablisseur. It bought ebauches from the best manufacturers like Eta, MST, A.S, Felsa, Valjoux, Venus and Landeron, and encased them into nicely built cases to obtain elegant watches of good make and affordable price.

Its watches were marketed under Avia's brand name, but the company used Avia King, Azia and Corvette as well, among others.

In 1968, the company entered into a consortium of 6 watch manufacturers, including Invicta and Sandoz. This consortium was quite remarkable in its time because it was the first to develop the first digital quartz watch with an LCD (liquid crystal display).

This watch was launched in the Basel Fair in 1972 and had a huge success. It put the company in the limelight and was also featured on the cover of the Journal of the Horological Society in 1975.

However, the technology powering these watches became very affordable very soon. Avia found itself unable to compete internationally with the Japanese companies selling the same kind of watches at a lower price.

The company lingered on until the Fossil group bought it in 2001. Currently, there are still some watches sold bearing the Avia name, though the brand is a pale shadow of what it was just after WWII.

After this little preamble, here’s one watch that I have recovered recently, bearing the Avia brand: a lovely specimen of the style of the 1970s, which is gaining traction right now and becoming a trend, with its novel, gaudy colors and chromatic provocations.

This Avia Matic Date is a great looking specimen of the 1970s, complete with an excellent dial that prefigures the Omega's AquaTerra series. Nothing short of impressive, in its beauty.

It mounts a FHF 905 automatic movement, with an Incabloc shock-resist system, beating at 21600 A/h and with a 43 hour power reserve.

Thanks and fair points - info on Avia is thin so I’ll read those sources.

Looks like it is a trench watch (style) without ever having been in WW1 trenches …

How can u tell when mine was made?

Sounds very early … time keeping was important in the trenches with artiliary and infantry attacks timed to the second!