During the 1920s, the first Gondolo wristwatches appeared. They were made in various shapes: round, square, rectangle, "tonneau" or "coussin".
Gondolo & Laboriau introduced a novel kind of marketing for the Chronometro Gondolo, which was also a brilliant public relations operation: the buyers of the watches paid by installment. They remitted the equivalent of ten Swiss francs per week for a period of 79 weeks maximum, and in return became part of an exclusive club of 180 members. Special outings and picnics were held, each member received a hat with ?Patek? inscribed on it, and in addition they could take part in a special lottery. Weekly drawings were held, the winner receiving his ?Chronometro Gondolo?, so that the winner of the first week?s drawing paid 10 francs for his watch, the winner of the second week, 20 francs, and so on. The 79th member who won the lottery, having made all the payments, was reimbursed the entire sum he had paid! Each of the remaining club members who had not won the lottery received his watch in turn, having paid 790 francs for it. The success of this system partially explains the great popularity of the Chronometro Gondolo at the time. Many clubs existed in Rio and the surrounding area during the first decade of the 20th century. François Wilmot?s patented micrometric cam regulator was registered as U.S. patent No. 129197, on July 16, 1872.