WatchUSeek Watch Forums banner

My new collection of classics - a project

2K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  Marijn 
#1 ·
First of all, let me quickly introduce myself. I've been reading this forum for quite a while, but never joined until now. I'm not much of a web 2.0 type, but this forum has so far impressed me by the friendly and knowledgeable conversation. I was also interested to see a community of people interested in early electronic watch technology from a time when they were more expensive than their mechanical counterparts. I am not an accuracy freak yet, but I'm afraid that may change soon.

So I figured I would chip in with a thread of my own. I have recently been lucky enough to be able to significantly expand my collection of 'interesting' (to me, anyway) early electronic watches.

See the attached photo for the result.



The IWC is the odd one out here. Not only is it a different color metal and is it not regulated by a quartz crystal, it is also the only watch in the set that currently runs and that I have owned for a while.

The other three have recently arrived. Although I'm hoping all they need is a battery (and strap!) change, I have not even had the time to get new batteries for them. I have been able to open the GP and found that it contains the 350 movement, which I was quite pleased about for reasons I hopefully do not have to explain here.

All three were bought from one single estate auction that contained many more watches. Only after the auction did I realize that I missed out on a number of other very interesting watches (an ultraquartz, for example, as well as an IWC Beta 21) from the same auction. That is not a bad thing for my bank account, of course.

Let me know if anyone would like to see movement pics of any of the watches or be updated on the status of getting them running again. If there are any questions about these, I'll try my best to answer them. If not, I'll happily go back to just reading the interesting conversations.
 
See less See more
1
#3 ·
Thanks South Pender. I hope to be able to contribute more soon.

As a quick update, the Omega and the GP are ticking away happily after a battery replacement and, in the case of the Omega, some minor internal cleaning.

The Uni needs a less common battery than the SR44/LR44 of the other two, so will have to wait a little longer before it can hopefully start 'humming' again. (Is humming the right term? Its quartz regulated tuning fork definitely won't tick)
 
#5 ·
Nice start....
seen examples of the others before...but i am assuming the UG is their version of the Bulova Accuquartz....which is a new one to me....so would definately be interested in seeing the inside...

Shame about missing the IWC Quartz Electronic ( Beta 21 ) if it was a 1st generation, it would be 1 of only 600 produced....mind you a gen2 is still pretty scarce

Regards K
 
#7 · (Edited)
seen examples of the others before...but i am assuming the UG is their version of the Bulova Accuquartz....which is a new one to me....so would definately be interested in seeing the inside...
Keith,

It definitely is a quartz regulated tuning fork, so I'm pretty sure it is Accuquartz based. I'll try to take some pictures in the next couple of days. For now, all I can do is tease you by saying it is a beautiful movement. It looks relatively complex and very well made and finished. It is cased in solid 18k gold as well, which leads me to believe this must have been a pretty expensive piece back in the day. Does anyone have any information on the relative price level of these watches back then?

I'm just hoping that getting it to work will be as simple as with the other two.

Thanks for the kind words, dwjquest and Bruce.
 
#8 ·
While seeing this excellent collection I understand less and less why so many people look down on battery powered movements.

Marijn, this is an superb collection you've got. Perhaps some background information that you already know; Girard Perregaux did not participate in the Beta 21 project but decided to develop there own quartz-movement. The result not only set the universal standard for quartz movement frequency at 32,768 Hz but can also be found in your Girard Perregaux. Also, Jaeger-LeCoultre did not participate in either project but did want to bring out a quartz-line. They choose the Girard-Perregaux movement over the Beta 21, and put it in there MasterQuartz collection.

Enjoy these beautifull watches and some movement pictures would be great......
 
#9 ·
While seeing this excellent collection I understand less and less why so many people look down on battery powered movements.

Marijn, this is an superb collection you've got. Perhaps some background information that you already know; Girard Perregaux did not participate in the Beta 21 project but decided to develop there own quartz-movement. The result not only set the universal standard for quartz movement frequency at 32,768 Hz but can also be found in your Girard Perregaux. Also, Jaeger-LeCoultre did not participate in either project but did want to bring out a quartz-line. They choose the Girard-Perregaux movement over the Beta 21, and put it in there MasterQuartz collection.

Enjoy these beautifull watches and some movement pictures would be great......
Thanks for the kind words and the information Martin. I was aware of GP's not taking part in the Beta 21 development and the technological firsts in this watch. I did not know that Jaeger-LeCoultre used the same movement. I did suspect something like this, as I have seen JLC MasterQuartz watches that look almost identical in case and dial design to this GP. I wonder who actually designed and made the cases.

I've attached a movement picture below. I see this very much as an engineer's movement. It is not particularly pretty and uses both expensive and cheap materials where they make technological sense, rather than to save costs or make the movement look expensive.



Based on the serial number, I'm guessing this is the 532nd production Quartz movement GP made. It is still going strong b-).

A movement pic of the Uniquartz will follow soon.
 
#10 ·
Very nice picture!! Thanks! I always thought this movement looks more like the inside of a 747 then a watch. By the way, I never got this sorted out, but the part at 11 o'clock (as seen from the back) looks like it has the Motorola logo on it. Does anybody know the story behind that?
 
#11 ·
By the way, I never got this sorted out, but the part at 11 o'clock (as seen from the back) looks like it has the Motorola logo on it. Does anybody know the story behind that?
That is definitely a Motorola logo. I remember reading an article some time ago about the Quartz watch being one of the first opportunities for the American semiconductor industry to move from low volume military/research applications to consumer applications, but have found no details either on the specific relationship between Girard Perregaux and Motorola.

I have seen later revisions of the movement (354, I think) that have a similarly marked Motorola chip, but in a more standard black plastic chip packaging. This one appears to be in a gold plated ceramic package.

I like how the layout of this movement makes it very easy to explain to anyone how a quartz watch functions. All the key parts and their interconnections are immediately visible after removing the case back.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top