Optima – Original “DU – Dienshuhr Verwaltung” German WWII Service Watch

Optima was founded in 1923 in Bienne, Switzerland, by Albert Grossenbacker under the corporate name “Optima SA / Fabrique d’Horlogerie A. Grossenbacker / F. Peter.” At the end of the 1920s, the company transferred its operations to the United States before relocating to Germany at the beginning of the 1930s—a move that positioned the firm within the German industrial sphere during the subsequent decade.

During the Second World War, Optima was among the manufacturers contracted to supply Dienstuhr timepieces to the German Reich, producing watches with the DU designation—”Dienstuhr Verwaltung”—indicating service watches intended for government services and administration rather than frontline military units. Following the postwar period, the Optima brand underwent various transitions until the 1990s, when it was acquired by Wasfi Taher, CEO of the Ribawatch group, who relocated production to Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel.

Optima is active in the Swiss watch industry to this day.

Case material: metal chromé

Back Style: screw back 

Diameter: 34 mm

Caliber: AS 1130

Rarity: ***** very rare

Condition: **** very good