© 2011 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
Wristwatches
(with apologies to Pixar Animation Studios)
T
his column starts—as so many
do—at an auction, where I
came upon a watch that, from
initial appearances, didn’t appear to
be anything special, but upon closer
inspection proved to be a hidden
gem.
It was a 1920s or early 1930s vin-
tage specimen, signed “Americus”
on the dial, and the case was an in-
expensive chrome plate over some
type of base metal. But opening the
back revealed a rare 8-day move-
ment made by Mimo. I paid $70 for
the watch. I listed the watch on my
website, and sold it quickly for $250,
with several requests by collectors
to be “next in line” if the first buyer
backed out. In hindsight, I probably
should have auctioned the watch, be-
cause I have since learned that Mimo
watches with this 8-day movement
rarely come up for sale.
Still, a $180 profit on a $70 watch
is a home run in my book, and I
know one lucky collector is thrilled
to have this piece in his collection.
I suspect many collectors have
not even heard of Mimo. It is one of
those obscure brands among the vast
numbers of companies comprising
the Swiss watch industry from the
late 1800s to about the 1930s, before
the Swiss watch industry underwent
a great consolidation.
If collectors have heard the name,
it’s usually in conjunction with a
better-known Swiss brand, Girard-
Perregaux. Many collectors/deal-
ers are under the false impression
that Girard-Perregaux owned Mimo
for a time. Actually, it’s the other
way around. Mimo owned Girard-
Perregaux, though after World War
II, the Mimo brand virtually disap-
peared, and the “child” became the
“parent,” but remained under the
www.nawcc.org
Finding Mimo
Figure 1. Mimo 8-day manual-wind
watch, signed “Americus” on dial. Base
metal case, 15J movement with 8-day
power reserve.
Mimo founder’s ownership until
1992, when the Girard-Perregaux
brand was purchased by Italian mil-
lionaire businessman Luigi Macaluso
and has since become an ultraluxury
brand.
But what of Mimo? We have only
a rough sketch of the company. It
was founded in 1889 by Otto Graef,
a German, who nevertheless located
his company in La Chaux de Fonds,
Switzerland, presumably to be closer
to the hub of the European watch
industry with its wide availability
of craftsmen and ebauches (rough
Figure 2. A ladies’ Mimo digital
“jumphour” watch, so-called because
the hour display moves in one-notch
increments every hour (or “jumps”) to
display the hour precisely in the middle
of the window. 4.5 ligne baguette
movement.
NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin • April 2011 •
by Bruce Shawkey (WI)
movements) if they were deemed
necessary for certain movement cali-
bers. Mimo is actually an acronym
for the company’s full name, which
was Manufacture Internationale
de Montres en Or. Thank goodness
Graef chose the acronym!
We can reasonably assume a few
things about the early days of the
company, based on evidence that
appears later. For one, it appears it
was always a company that sold its
product through a small network
of wholesale distributors and “job-
bers” rather than to retailers.1 This
certainly allowed Mimo to hold
down costs by keeping their sales
force small. Second, it appears Graef
turned much of his profits back into
the company in the area of design
and innovation, specifically wrist-
watches, of which the company ap-
pears to have been an early adapter.
And third, they were not above put-
ting other brand names on their di-
als and cases (but still leaving their
brand name on the movement) for
anyone who wished to place a “spe-
cial order.” Although this was cer-
tainly not an uncommon practice,
many companies in those days did
not do this, for they believed it di-
luted their brand. For Mimo, it was
a way to make additional profits. My
“Americus” watch that I described at
the beginning of this column is an
example of this custom branding.
By the late 1920s and early 1930s,
the company had patented several
innovative wristwatches, including
one of the first digital-display watch-
es for men, and very probably the first
digital ladies’ watch. With a baguette
movement at just 4.5 lignes in size, it
was (and still is) very likely the small-
est mechanical digital-display watch
ever made. Another one of their la-
155
 © 2011 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
Wristwatches
Figure 3. The Mimo-Meter featured a
digital date display at the 3:00 position,
which would eventually become the
standard method of showing the date
for most watch manufacturers. The
movement is 15 jewel, and the watch
is usually found with a base metal or
chrome-plated case.
dies’ models, the “Mimo-Rex,” was
a double-sided ladies’ watch that
displayed digital time on one side
and analog time on the other. I have
never actually seen one in person,
but according to at least one dealer,
they exist.2
The Mimo-Meter, a watch that
displays a digital date at the 3:00
position, was produced during this
time. While many companies were
working on watches that displayed
the date on an outer chapter ring of
the main dial, or on a small subsid-
iary dial, Mimo was the first (as far
as I know) to incorporate the date as
an integral part of the main dial at
the 3:00 position. It was a radical ap-
proach and ahead of its time, but of
course became the “standard” that
would eventually be adopted by vir-
tually every other watch manufac-
turer. Thank Mimo for that.
The Mimo-Matic did not have
an especially high-grade movement
(only 15 jewels), but it was so attrac-
tive and innovative that it drew the
attention of Tiffany & Co., which or-
dered a small quantity of them cased
in 14 kt. gold (the watch is customar-
ily found in base metal cases—nickel
—or sometimes chrome over base
metal). This is probably one of the
few times that Mimo sold an order of
watches directly to a retailer.
And, of course, during this time,
they patented the 8-day movement,
which they proudly advertised on
the dials of most of their watches
with the signature “8 DAYS.” Why
this type of movement did not
catch on with other manufacturers
156 • April 2011 • NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin
is somewhat of a mystery to me, be-
cause, on the surface at least, a watch
that only requires winding every
eight days would seem very appeal-
ing. It certainly is a standard in the
world of clocks. But for whatever rea-
son, it never caught on in the watch
world and, as far as I know, Mimo is
the only company to have manufac-
tured and successfully marketed a
manually wound watch with 8 days
of power reserve.3
As was noted earlier in my story,
Herr Graef’s small but highly profit-
able company allowed the acquisi-
tion sometime in the 1930s (the ex-
act year is a matter of some dispute)
of the Girard-Perregaux watch com-
pany. Some might wonder, looking
at the company today and its ultra-
luxury line of watches, how this
was possible. But Girard-Perregaux
was a very different company back
then. Their watches were not par-
ticularly high grade, using ebauches
from other companies, and typically
gold-filled (and even base metal)
cases. The invention of their famous
“Gyromatic” was still almost three
decades away, so they were not con-
sidered a force to be reckoned with.
In fact, Girard-Perregaux today is
reluctant to even acknowledge the
existence of their early wristwatches
(pre-Gyromatic) because of their vast
difference in quality (and price) com-
pared to their current watches.
But what Girard-Perregaux did
possess back in the early 1930s was
a firm toehold on the American mar-
ket, which is what Graef needed.
Mimo trade advertisements in the
1930s did mention a New York office,
but by all accounts the Mimo brand
was more widely known in Europe.
So it appears Graef continued to “go
with the flow” and promote Girard
-Perregaux in America and Mimo in
Europe.
The 1940s saw the
introduction of an-
other obscure wrist-
watch, the Mimo-
Loga, which incorpo-
rates a circular slide
rule into the dial of
the watch. Mimo’s
patent date on this watch is July 27,
1940s, just weeks before Breitling
patented its slide rule watch, the
Chronomat, on August 26, 1940. So
while most watch historians credit
Breitling with inventing the slide
rule watch, its appears Mimo beat
them to the punch. Granted, Mimo’s
watch did not have the added ben-
efit of a chronograph built into the
watch, but it does appear to have
been the first slide rule watch. So
the Mimo-Loga is yet another one of
those footnotes in watch history, al-
though it is a very rare watch (I have
only seen photos of it in a catalog).
The outbreak of World War II saw
Mimo supply many watches to the
German military. I have only seen
one of these models: a very ordinary
looking military watch, very conven-
tional in design, with a black dial.
Examples of this model I have seen
have a 15-jewel movement and a
subsidiary seconds dial. So it appears
these watches were intended for
ground forces rather than for flight
personnel, where a sweep seconds
hand would be more appropriate.
It appears Mimo fulfilled several
“official” contracts by the German
government, because many of the
Mimo watches from this period bear
the office “DH” military markings.
DH stands for Dienst Heer [Service
Army], which was the most basic
of military markings for official ser-
vice watches of the German military
during World War II. Many service
watches had much more elaborate
markings signifying the watch’s use
in a specific branch of the military
(such as the Luftwaffe [Air Force]). But
the Mimo watches I have seen from
this period are marked simply “DH,”
so it appears Mimo watches served as
a basic wristwatch for the German
military.
Figure 4. The Mimo-
Loga has been credited
with being the first
watch to incorporate a
circular slide rule into a
wristwatch, although the
company beat the patents
on Breitliing’s slide rule
watch, the Chronomat,
by a matter of weeks.
www.nawcc.org
 © 2011 National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, Inc. Reproduction prohibited without written permission.
Wristwatches
Figure 5. This watch was issued to many German soliders during World War II and was also
available for purchase by civilians and military personnel not issued a wristwatch. Thus, it can be
found today with and without military markings. Fifteen-jewel movement, chrome plated or base
metal case. Photo by hoodinkee.com, used with permission.
Mimo likely made this So for today’s collector, Mimo presents somewhat of a
watch available for purchase challenge. Once you get beyond the basic World War II
by military personnel who, for service watch, specimens are hard to find, and locating
whatever reason, were not is- spare parts for most of the “classic” Mimo models from
sued a watch by the military, the late 1920s and early 1930s is surely a daunting task.
and most likely civilians could But for the collector who likes watches that are off the
purchase this watch as well. Thus, we see many of these beaten path, Mimo is a worthy pursuit. They were surely
World War II-era Mimo watches appearing on the open ahead of their time, and I predict that one day, prices
market (e.g., eBay) with and without the “DH” marking. for their more rare prewar specimens are going to make
For the beginning collector, I would urge caution when some of today’s collectors very happy indeed.
buying these watches, because the simplicity of the basic
“DH” markings is easy to forge. Notes
I also see quite a few dealers offering these World War 1. Roy Ehrhardt’s Vintage American and European Wrist
II-era Mimo watches at extremely high prices, touting Watch Price Guide states that Mimo watches were avail-
them as “rare” military watches, even though they do able from wholesale distributors only.
not possess the “DH” markings. A little tip: These watch- 2. Gisbert A. Joseph, www.joseph-watches.com
es are not all that rare; I see them being offered quite 3. There are many watches today with automatic me-
frequently in today’s market. chanical movements that possess eight days of power
After World War II, the Mimo brand virtually disap- reserve once they are fully wound by the automatic
peared. We don’t know for sure why, but one possible ex- mechanism. However, eight days of power reserve with
planation is that Graef, a native German himself, saw a a manual winding movement is a feature on a wrist-
potential backlash trying to reintroduce the Mimo brand watch unique to Mimo, as far as I am aware.
to the European civilian market as the result of supplying About the Author
so many watches to the German military. In any event, Bruce Shawkey, of Evansville, WI, has been a watch
the Mimo brand disappeared, either by design or market collector, dealer, and historian since 1986. He has writ-
forces. It’s reasonable to assume that Graef took the prof- ten the watch column for the NAWCC Watch & Clock
its he made from Mimo during World War II and chan- Bulletin since 1997. His interests are varied and include
neled them into what he decided would be his flagship all types and brands of vintage wristwatches, from the
brand, Girard-Perregaux. Girard-Perregaux watches from 1910s to the 1970s. He recently completed his first book,
the late 1940s and 1950s became much more stylish, and Gruen Wristwatches: A Collector’s Guide. For more infor-
the quality of the movement improved, too, reaching a mation on the author, or to contact him directly, visit
pinnacle in 1957 with the introduction of the legendary his website at www.thewatchstore.com.
Gyromatic.

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www.nawcc.org NAWCC Watch & Clock Bulletin • April 2011 • 157