Mechanical watch movements consist of a large number of individual parts whose manufacturing precision determines, among other things, how accurate a movement is. In addition, external influences such as shocks or temperature changes contribute to the fact that a movement always shows a certain deviation from the real time. And aging processes of the lubricants and materials used also have their share.
ETA 6497-1 [source: eta.ch]
Guba in Ellmendingen near Pforzheim was a German manufacturer of watch movements about which hardly anything is known. Here we take a look at the little that is known.
The history of Guba Uhrenrohwerke (watch movements) began in 1924, when the goldsmith Hermann Friedrich Bauer and his sons founded a company in Pforzheim to manufacture gold watch straps, followed a little later by gold watch cases.
Every quartz watch has a jumping second, so the second hand always moves in whole second increments. This is in contrast to the mechanical watch, where the oscillation frequency of the balance determines how many small steps the hand takes between two second strokes. In classic movements, it’s 18,000 bph (beats per hour), which results in five steps per second; in the more modern 28,800 bph of an ETA 2824-2, it’s eight. This is called sweeping second.
Jumping second (repeats after 15 seconds, otherwise the file will be too big…)
Little is known about Crettiez, a French manufacturer of movements and watches. And the little that is known, unfortunately, has a sad background. But let’s start with the story from the beginning.
Today, there will not be a complete walk through the functioning of a movement, but a specific focus on the bidirectional winding automatic of a Citizen 6000.
An inconspicuous ladies’ watch that holds a little surprise after opening the cover: an interesting plate whose inscription almost has the character of a novel – and a movement with Duplex escapement!
