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Movements

This page shows pictures of movements which don't have a maker's name or trademark stamped on them and so are difficult to identify. Some I have been able to identify, which could help you to identify your watch's unknown movement. At first there will be just a few movements here, but the collection will grow as time goes by. I will also put up some pictures of movements which I haven't been able to identify, so please see if you know what they are and let me know.

If you click on the pictures a bigger one should pop up in a new window. I don't mind you using these for your research, but if you want to use them in a publication, please ask first.

If you have a movement which is not featured and you can supply a picture and details, then please send them in - all contributions will be gratefully acknowledged! When taking pictures of a movement, please always make sure that you get the winding stem at the top, in the 12 o'clock position. This is how movements are usually shown in the reference books, and it is a lot easier to compare them if you don't have to try to mentally rotate the picture!

I get quite a few questions from people who aren't watch specialists or collectors and are just trying to identify a watch they have inherited or bought. This picture should help them with some basic terms. If you click on it you will get a larger version where you can see more detail.

Movement parts

• One of the commonest questions I get asked is "what does the FSAR mean?". These letters are found on the regulator and stand for "Faster Slower Avance Retard" and just show the watchmaker which way to move the regulator to make the watch go faster or slower.
• I have indicated where the stem enters the movement at the top of the picture. The stem carries a pinion which meshes with the crown wheel. When the stem is turned, the pinion turns the crown wheel, which turns the ratchet wheel connected to the mainspring arbor, winding the spring that makes the watch go. The spring is contained within a barrel underneath the ratchet wheel.
• The mainspring barrel has a gear on its outside which drives the centre wheel. The centre wheel turns once per hour. It turns the minute hand and, via a 12:1 reduction gearing called the motion work, the hour hand. Every time the minute hand makes one complete revolution, the hour hand makes 1/12 of a complete revolution, so one complete revolution of the hour hand takes 12 hours.
• The centre wheel drives the third wheel, which drives the fourth wheel. The fourth wheel makes one turn every minute and is used to turn the seconds hand.
• The fourth wheel also drives the escape wheel. The escape wheel is locked by the lever pallets, which you should just about be able to see if you click on the picture to get the larger version. The pallets are either side of the lever pivot which I have labelled, they are tiny pale ruby coloured things, one is just visible above the screw on the rim of the balance wheel. As the balance wheel swings to and fro it knocks the lever from one side to the other. Each time this happens it releases the pallet which is currently locking the escape wheel, allowing one tooth of the escape wheel to pass until it is locked by the other pallet. As the locking pallet releases the escape wheel, the escape wheel gives it a push, which in turn makes the lever gives a tiny push to the balance wheel, which is what keeps it turning.
• Once the balance wheel has knocked the lever, it carries on turning as far as its momentum and the little extra push it received from unlocking the escape wheel will take it against the resistance of the balance spring. One the balance wheel has run out of energy, the balance spring accelerates it in the reverse direction and it knocks the lever back the other way, and the sequence starts all over again.
• Early watches movements have two plates, and most of the "works" sits between these. The bottom plate is the one behind the dial, the top plate is the one you see when you open the back of the watch. Except that there isn't much plate to see in a more modern watch. In the nineteenth century the top plate was gradually replaced by bridges and cocks, which can be installed one-by-one and make the movement easier to build up. A bridge has a support and screw at each end, a cock has just one support and screw, so it is a cantilver and must be short to be sufficiently rigid. You can see the remains of the top plate, which I have labelled such, but this can also be called the barrel bridge.

If you have any comments, corrections, requests or suggestions, then please feel free to email them to me at . You shouldn't need to copy the email address, just click on it. I answer all emails I receive, so if you do write to me and don't get an answer in a few days, please check your junk and spam folders. Even better, when you write, add my email address to your contacts and my emails will not be filtered out. I look forward to hearing from you! Regards - David

The Movements

This is a small selection of movements which I have found in watches I have collected and which I have been able to positively identify. I don't intend to show movements with their makers names on them, because they are already identified. The idea of this page is to try to identify otherwise unknown movements.

	Electa-Gallet movement This is the commonest movement I have found in my collection of Borgel wrist watches. Although there is no maker's mark anywhere on the movement I identified it as an Electa-Gallet on the basis of the name "Electa" which appears on the dial of one of my watches, and also on the dial of one owned by Cary Hurt, so it is not just a single instance. You can read more about Electa-Gallet on my History page. I have recently had confirmation that this is indeed an Electa-Gallet movement from David R. Laurence, Managing Director of The Gallet Group, Inc., who is working on a book documenting the history of the Gallet company. www.GalletWatch.com. This movement appears in two grades, the 15 jewel type shown here, and a higher grade 17 jewel version with the jewels set in chatons, with a swans neck micro adjustment for the regulator. I also have an indirect centre seconds version of this movement, with the seconds hand driven off the third wheel by multiplier gearing.
	IWC calibre 64 movement Note that it is not the "S&Co. under a crown or "PEERLESS" stamped on the movement underneath the balance which identifies this as an IWC movement - those are Stauffer, Son & Co. trademarks which also appear on movements sourced by Stauffer from other manufacturers. I identified this movement as an IWC calibre 64 by comparing the shapes of the plates and bridges with diagrams in IWC "Fournitures" catalogues. The IWC museum have also confirmed that it is an IWC calibre 64 movement.
	A Schild movement This is an A Schild movement in my 1917 British War Department officially issued wrist watch. The watch has a nickel screw back and bezel case.