From
Mondaine -
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| Courtesy of Mondaine |
I have a weird sort of soft spot for
Mondaine's railway watches. Traveling around Switzerland by train, I clap eyes on the
Mondaine clocks at nearly every stop. The watch itself is also quite cool and in fairness, it has become for many synonymous with Switzerland. While this latest iteration might not be for everyone, I have to say that it is a pretty cool twist on the original.
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| Courtesy of Mondaine |
It is the stop2go series so you have the clever hesitation by the second hand when it reaches 12. But what I find draws me beyond that (which admittedly might turn some people off) is the bezel. It is crafted from the driver’s cab door of an Ae6/6. I realize that not everyone is into train spotting, so here is a breakdown of the Ae6/6 courtesy of the good folks at Wikipedia -
The
Ae 6/6 is a heavy electric locomotive used by the
SBB-CFF-FFS. It is sometimes also referred to as
canton locomotive ("Kantonslokomotive"), because the first 25 locomotives were named after the
cantons, and carried the canton's coat of arms on the side and chrome embellishments (a single raised stripe on each side and three raised stripes on each end), and the Swiss coat of arms on the front, between the chrome stripes. These adornments made them internationally famous. The other 95 locomotives received the names of capital cities of Swiss cantons, and other towns and cities, but without the chrome embellishments. The namings were held as ceremonies in the respective cities.
Originally designed for heavy services on the
Gotthard route, as many Swiss locomotives were, the Ae 6/6 was one of the classic
Gotthard locomotives.
All locomotives were originally painted in the SBB CFF FFS green livery, with the number, and either SBB CFF, or SBB FFS on each side, all raised numerals in chrome. Nowadays about half are painted red, and a proportion of the fleet have been repainted in SBB Cargo livery, with all raised chrome embellishments removed apart from the Swiss coat of arms on each end. These locomotives have been renumbered (as class 610) in line with the current Swiss numbering scheme
Hence, the bezel is green.
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| Courtesy of Mondaine |
The case back bears the
official Gottardo2016 logo celebrating the Gottardo tunnel.
It is due in the US later this summer, but available in Switzerland now. I might need to lean on a Swiss friend to pick one up for me ; )
Here are the pertinents -
| Function | stop2go |
| Movement (type) | Swiss quartz Movement Mondaine cal 58-02 stop2go |
| Case size / diameter (mm) | 41 mm stainless steel case |
| Crystal/Glass material | Scratch resistant sapphire crystal |
| Strap | Genuine leather strap |
| Water resistance | Water resistant tested to 3ATM |
| Origin | Swiss made |
True story, this was a hard one to get ahold of. In the end, I was able to get one a year or so after it came out. 
The green bezel insert comes straight out of the driver's cab door from the original Ae6/6 train.
Sadly, none of us are traveling right now, but I think I'll hop on the SBB App and map out my next trip, and start making plans for when things are safe again.
