'Snow White' Multichron 12, Steel

Exclusives, live. This is Snow White. It's a Gallet Multichron with a Disney nickname, and it's the sort of vintage chronograph that's worth getting excited about. Gallet themselves hold a reputation in chronograph manufacture that rivals any, worn by President Truman, F1 legend Jim Clark, and US fighter pilot Donald Blakeslee (who flew more combat missions against the Luftwaffe in WW2 than any other American pilot). Gallet designed chronographs with purpose in mind, and were regarded with the same dependable character that Rolex then held as well.

But this Gallet, Snow White, is famed for its uncomplication. Most Gallets are littered with specific scales to aid a role: telemetres, tachymetres, pulsations, and others. Snow White is not only uncluttered and minimalist, but not even luminous. This is unarguably the most paired-back late 60s design Gallet ever made. Snow White was so named for the paleness of her skin, and as this Gallet has no tritium or radium to deteriorate or burn, its dial, too, will forever be milk glass.

Gallet has made many iterations of the Multichron, but not one feels so right today as Snow White. 37.5mm, eggshell-white dial, blued steel handset, and executed with the kind of eye for proportion that Christian Dior could only dream of. It was available with both an Excelsior Park EP40 and Valjoux 72, this EP40 is the more specific to Gallet. Gallet moved from the V72 to the EP40 as they felt it was a more reliable, better made calibre. When you feel the precise resistance of one chronograph pusher, you'll know why. One has to admire Gallet's ability to think outside the box (and the legiblity of the fully graduated hour totalizer). The Snow White is widely lauded for its sense of proportion in design, and that shows on wrist. It is also one of the rarest Gallet chronographs, about 5X more scarce than a 'Jim Clark'.

The first three rules in design are proportion, proportion, and proportion. And that’s where the Snow White sings, because everything sits just right in relation to the thing next to it. The eyes of the chronograph aren’t oversized. They’re correctly sized. Its pump pushers, round, full, but not massive. The lugs have a very subtle expanding bevel to wrap down the wrist. Then you notice how wide and styled the Arabics are, that 4 is a masterpiece. The best bit though, it doesn’t want to shout about itself. The Gallet is very subtle at 12. It’s just a lovely object, not trying hard to attract attention, but to be worthy of your attention. It's a watch that will be at home amongst the most serious collectors yet maintains a very casual air.

The example presents in spectacular vintage condition. Starting with the case, there are very strong edges to the lug bevels, even under loupe, which leads us to believe it is likely untouched. The back shows light surface wear consistent with age but is not perfectly polished, supporting this hypothesis. Its opaline-silver dial is undamaged, showing light patina around the subs but zero visible scars, handstrikes, or blemishes. As there's no tritium or luminous material of any sort, this dial has aged far more gracefully than most of its contemporaries. All printed dial script is still very clear. It is running well within spec currently, including all chronograph functions. It comes on the pictured Delugs blue leather strap with quick-change springbars.

This watch is modeled on a relatively large 7.7 inch wrist.