The famous Eberhard & Co. split-seconds chronograph, produced in the early 1940s and instrumental for the success of an epic Italian Air Force mission, was named after the heroic pilot to whom it was issued, Publio Magini.
The chronograph was at the centre of a relatively unknown episode of the Second World War, the round trip Rome-Tokyo flight of 1942. In that period, the Axis powers were unable to communicate via radio because their secret codes had been deciphered by the Anglo-Americans. Italy, Germany and Japan therefore decided to connect the three countries with a regular flight with the aim of exchanging strategic information. The Italians were the only ones to succeed in this secret mission, thanks in part to this timepiece that became one of the key instruments in air navigation at the time.
The watch auctioned at Bolaffi is a sensational discovery, being only the second model of the Magini Chronograph that has been found, after the prototype used during the military mission, which is now owned by an important collector.
The exceptional value assigned to the “Mod. Mag.” during the Bolaffi auction is a tribute to the history of Eberhard & Co., recently represented in the new Museum at La Chaux-de-Fonds.
