West End Watch Multi Centerchrono in stainless steel with Borgel case

1940 | Stainless steel | Manual | 35.0mm

The Multi Centerchrono is one of the most ingenious and underappreciated chronograph concepts of the 1940s. Produced by Mido and sold under several trade names — West End among them — it houses the calibre 1300, a heavily modified Valjoux VZ that achieves something genuinely unusual: a fully centralised chronograph layout with no subdials whatsoever. Start the chrono and a fourth central hand begins counting elapsed minutes alongside the seconds hand — an approach that reads more intuitively than any subdial ever could, and gives the dial an almost split-seconds appearance at rest.

West End Watch Co. was born in Bombay in the 1880s, founded by the Droz family from St-Imier as a vehicle for distributing Swiss-made watches across India and the British colonial network — not a manufacturer in the traditional sense, but a savvy trader with excellent taste in movements and cases. The salmon dial is a rare and warm variant, adding real character to an already distinctive watch. The case is a genuine François Borgel — one of Geneva's most respected case makers, whose screw-back constructions also protected early Patek Philippe chronographs.

This example shows honest wear consistent with its age: the case has seen some polishing, the hands have lost their lume, and the pusher tips show some plating wear at their ends — all noted transparently. The chronograph itself functions correctly across all three positions. A rare piece for the connoisseur who values horological originality over cosmetic perfection.