Information on Ultra, Altitude & Mirus, with added Altitude movement ID'd + accident

[john87300]

It seems like once every month for the last few months I have added to my original post on Ultra/Altitude/Mirus, so, true to form, today I added a fourth family member, an Altitude. You may recall that Altitude were made, along with Mirus, by Ultra at their Morteau factory, Ultras being made at Bescançon.


Here are the seller's photos:




It came on a heavy weight gold toned bracelet, which I wouldn't put on any wrist until it had been sat in disinfectant for about 24 hours before even attempting to clean it, it was filthy on the inside and between the links was sticky black goo. It will clean up nicely I think, and it looks like it's original period to the watch and is a good match to the gold tone of the watch.

The Bagobloc back with the usual SDGD (without government guarantee) marking, took a good 30 minutes struggle with a case back wrench to open, That too was grimed solid, and was carefully cleaned up. Inside is this, as far as I can see, unmarked movement.



With Antichoc protection it's quite likely French, but I can't find it in any of my references.

About an hour of cleaning and polishing and now on a temporary strap this is what it's like:





Does anyone recognise the movement?

[Hartmut Richter]

I think it's just a slight bridge variation on the ol' Cupillard 233. A look at the keyless works would show us more.

Hartmut Richter

[Sparcster]

Hi John,

Not sure on the movement..... that was some serious 'grime' around the case back!!


Looks like it has cleaned up very nice!

Marc

[Marrick]

That's another nice French watch. And I like the Altitude logo.

[john87300]

I think it's just a slight bridge variation on the ol' Cupillard 233. A look at the keyless works would show us more.

Hartmut Richter

Hi hartmut,

There is some similarity, but I've never seen anything other than a 15 jewel 233, from first generation up through the FE series.

[john87300]

I've identified the movement as a 17 jewel Parrenin HP 87, and have confirmed it with Marrick's reply in this thread:

Tylex (ancre 17 rubins): please ID

Sadly the watch has been the victim of an accident. It was on a temporary strap when one of the brand new spring bars snapped in half and dumped it unceremoniously onto the concrete of our courtyard. The acrylic came out completely, but remarkably is undamaged, unfortunately the sub second hand has vanished somewhere in the summer kitchen never to be seen again. As a tribute to the quality of the HP and of Ultra's assemby, the Altitude still runs perfectly, so the hunt is on for a suitable second hand and a reliable watchmaker to check it over for me.

[Marrick]

Glad to have been of help for once!

I'm sure a decent watchmaker will be able to replace the second hand easily enough. Tough movements those Parrenin 87's.

[trim]

It was on a temporary strap when one of the brand new spring bars snapped in half and dumped it unceremoniously onto the concrete of our courtyard.

I hope you haven't been skimping and using those horrible plated brass springbars you get in sets of 300 or so off ebay for a couple of bucks. Even the ones that claim to be stainless, often have brass ends. In any case, I hope you go back and check/replace all you have fitted. Springbars and buckles are worth spending decent money on.

Sorry to hear of the watch's fall from grace - this hand should be easy to replace, and is nothing special, that said, I wish you good luck in your hunt for a good watchmaker - especially considering your past bad luck.

BTW, this is a nice looker.

[john87300]

I hope you haven't been skimping and using those horrible plated brass springbars you get in sets of 300 or so off ebay for a couple of bucks. Even the ones that claim to be stainless, often have brass ends. In any case, I hope you go back and check/replace all you have fitted. Springbars and buckles are worth spending decent money on.

Sorry to hear of the watch's fall from grace - this hand should be easy to replace, and is nothing special, that said, I wish you good luck in your hunt for a good watchmaker - especially considering your past bad luck.

BTW, this is a nice looker.

No, I steer clear of those bars, I bought some "expensive" ones from French "fleabay", which I now suspect were re-packaged from the bulk packs you mention. Luckily I've only used one other set of these, so I have some more on order from the UK. But, as Marrick said, the 87 and the build quality of Ultra back then saved the day, when many more well known brands may not have literally bounced back so well.