The Railking

As we have established a long time ago, some railway watches are simply far more special than others. The one that falls in that super cool category is Cortebert Perseo made in the late 60's and early 70's for the Italian State Rail (Ferrovie dello Stato). The Railking is a properly numbered issue with a state rail number. The Railking has a 36mm case size. It is fitted with Cortebert calibre 140 movement. This is essentially Unitas 6325 with 17 jewels developed in the 1960's. The snow white dial with three Cortebert red stars is a nice example of functional simplicity. Finally a tool watch made for a purpose and named accordingly! I wish there is an Australian equivalent of the Railking. It is not hard to be jealous of the Italians and their horological railway heritage.

Another interesting detail about the Cortebert watch company is the botonny crusaders four stars cross on the logo which dates back to 1790. However when in early 1900's Cortebert started selling railway watches to the Otoman empire, Cortebert changed logo to five stars so they did not offend the Turks. But the five star logo offended Mussolini who demanded that Cortebert should adopt a more Italian sounding name - like Perseo - and drop the star count to three, Swiss obliged. But back in 1960's and 70's Perseo once again started using the five star symbol on winding crowns. Go figure!

The Railking comes with its original bracelet which is a nice touch.