New Old Stock Vintage Mathey-Tissot Venus 188 Chronograph Wristwatch Dial, ca. 1930s Signed: Ematis (= E Mathey- Tissot) Diameter: 29.5 mm Caliber: Venus 188 Numbers: Raised yellow gold Dial Feet: Behind the 5 minute and the 35 minute positions respectively Mathey-Tissot Founded 1886 by Edmond Mathey-Tissot in Les Ponts-de-Martel , Switzerland, the Company initially specialized in repeater pocket watches, and thereafter chronographs (stop-watches), which won numerous prizes throughout Europe. Very active in the Anglo-Saxon markets, in 1900 the firm built a new factory to meet the increased demand spurred by the Boer War between England and South Africa. Among the orders received was one from a jeweler in Scotland commissioned by a local nobleman to supply gold repeater pocket watches to each officer in his son's 2500 man strong regiment, and sterling silver pocket watches to each of the enlisted men. In the Kew Observatory Competition of 1914, Mathey-Tissot was represented by six chronographs, each with split-second timing. Each passed the Class A rating with mention ''specially good '', and one set a record for precision never previously attained. Later that same year Mathey-Tissot followed this accomplishment with the award of the Grand Prix at Bern's Swiss National Exhibition. As the years passed, further additional honors were earned by the firm. During World War I, Mathey-Tissot was called on to supply the United States Army Corps of Engineers with large quantities of chronographs, and Gen. John J. Pershing, Commander of the United States Expeditionary Forces, selected Mathey-Tissot as the watch to award to members of his staff. Thereafter, leading up to and during World War II, Mathey-Tissot was an important supplier for the United States armed forces and British Navy. From the 1950s through 1980s, Mathey-Tissot also owned, produced and marketed the prestigious Buche Girod brandâae as well as following in the footsteps of Vacheron Constantin - Jaeger leCoultre as licenced manufacturer and marketer of Cartier's wristwatches during the the 1960s-1970s before Cartier began manufacturing their watches themselves During these same years, Mathey-Tissot also became noted for their 18K gold day-date chronographs (Valjoux 88 movements), which they continued to produce until the late 1980s. Following the Companyâs demise in the 1990s, Mathey-Tissot shortly thereafter was reborn under new ownership which sees over the Company to this day.