On watch movements
I am quite aware of the importance of the movement of the watches I collect. I basically have Japanese and Swiss watches whose movements I have done some research on. A good resource for movements is in the following link:
http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk
The site has an extensive archive for watch movements as well as other information on watches. Sellers will usually have information about watch movements but there are many, especially those selling watches as a hobby, who don't even show the watch movements so one might be surprised to see what's inside the watch and in what condition it is in. I have been lucky to be able to get watches with legit movements including those on the really old ones I've acquired.
I honestly haven't tried seeing the movements in most of my watches. I don't have the proper tools for doing so. So far, I have only opened a few including my King Seiko, whose movement is shown below.
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| Seiko 5626B movement on my KS beats at 28,800 A/h |
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| The etch on the inside of the cover though does not match the watch movement. This plus another marking led me to suspect that this was some sort of "franken" watch, deriving parts from different watch models. |
Another watch I have had opened is my Olma, which is shown below:
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| Signed automatic movement with 41 jewels on my Olma Caravelle |
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| Inside of the cover has a very important information about this watch. That is, it is a super compressor. |
I recently had my Gruen Precision serviced and before doing so opened the back myself to see for myself the movement on this old but reliable piece.
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| Signed manual winding movement on my Gruen Precision. The mechanism is quite clean for an old watch. This was well-maintained by the previous owner(s). |
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| Inside the cover shows where the watch was made and I was happy to see that previous watch repairs didn't leave their marks (usually etched on the inside of the cover) on this watch. |
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