The 1970s were a bold era for watch designers. The seismic impact of the quartz revolution was highly influential to watch manufacturers and presumably bold designs were one way of dealing with the fall out. I would assume there was little to lose for some, so you get fantastic designs like this chunky Sandoz.

Henri Sandoz & Cie was founded in Le Locle, Switzeraland in the 1870s but the company has fragmented since the early 1970s but is still making watches including some very attractive chronographs.  This watch is driven by the Valjoux 7734 calibre, which first appeared in two-dial chronographs in 1969 and was used in leading brands like Breitling and Heuer.  The Valjoux watch movement logo - a fancy capital R is stamped just below the balance wheel and was a real workhorse for manual watches in this era. The Valjoux 7734 has a date feature, the Valjoux 7733 doesn’t. 

The watch is hand wound and the power lasts for about 30 hours.  The case diameter is 38mm and despite it being a chunky case sits very nicely on the wrist. The case is chromium, not stainless steel and there are marks and wear which is normal for a watch of this age - please see the pockmarks of the aged chromium case in the photos. The facing case on the dial side still however has the nice brushed effect.  There is a small crack in the glass at 3pm. The watch comes with a mesh bracelet, which isn’t original, and like most of them is very comfortable once you’ve mastered the technique of putting it on. The stainless steel bracelet actually really sets the watch off well, but you may want to purchase a new strap for it in time.  Everything works really well here, the watch keeps good time and the chrono pushers, while a little stiff, zero properly.