LIP T18 T18

1949 LIP T18 9k Gold Tank

A long cased tank watch from France’s leading watchmakers at the time, Lip, with the benefit of a solid gold case and the T18 movement. HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH? From the London hallmark on the inside of the case back we can accurately date this watch to being assayed in 1949. CONDITION Lip history goes back to 1867, and they have had an interesting history. They became France’s biggest watchmakers, and had technical and design highlights such as electronic watches, the Nautic-Ski, and the MACH 2000, but also had industrial disputes in the 1960’s and 1970’s that pretty much closed the factory. Now they have been revived and new Lip models can be bought from them, including a tank watch in steel called the T18 at €1,990. But this watch we have is in precious metal, not steel, and has their T18 movement inside – a T18 model was offered to Winston Churchill as a token of appreciation from France too. This is a manual wind movement with subseconds, which is running well. The movement still has its snug dust cover too, stamped MADE IN FRANCE. The dial has been restored in the past, but presents well. The acrylic crystal has a few light marks. The gold case is made by DS&S, so will have been made in the UK and then the movement imported – post war there were high duties applied to complete gold watches, so many companies had their movements and dials cased in the UK to legally avoid the duties. The leather strap is new, and could be swapped for a different colour or material if preferred. The watch is signed on the dial, case and movement. This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity. SIZE Width with crown 22.7 mm Width without crown 20.7 mm Between lugs 17.5 mm Lug to lug length 38.0 mm Case Thickness 10.6 mm All sizes are approximate. The watch is photographed on a wrist of 190mm/7.5 inches.