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Help needed with obscure 15J quartz chronograph movement


Seiko7A38

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O.K., now I've found a workaround for the photo uploading 'glitch', time for me to 'fess up and admit to the real reason I signed up to WRF. I'm looking for some information, help and advice, as it says in the title: with an obscure 15J quartz chronograph movement.

No - I'm not talking about the Seiko 7A38(A); Shimauchi Ltd. V906; Orient J3920; JEPIC Corp Y19; Ferrari Cal. 531, Jean Lassale 7A74A, etc., etc.. Something rather more obscure than any of those (almost identical) movements, which I'm already intimately familiar with.

I've read a couple of threads in this section where posters have had issues with quartz movements in Gucci 9300 / 9400 chronographs. This movement is similar, aesthetically rather better appearing than those, IMO, but not quite in the same league as the Seiko 7Axx's. So I'm hoping someone here can shed some light on this animal.

Allow me to give you some background first.

On my forum, we don't just discuss (all brands of) 7Axx's and 7Txx's. There's also sub-forum for other contemporary quartz chronographs. A few years ago, I started a thread: 

http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/topics/show/7390834-close-calls-and-double-takes-but-not-the-real-deal

Basically it's about quartz chrono's which at first glance might pass for a Seiko 7Axx - i.e. they have tri-compax sub-dials and 3 pushers plus a crown @ 8 o'clock. There are many different brands posted in that thread, including the aforementioned Gucci's. At the top of the second page, back in August 2013, a forum member posted a link to a German eBay auction for a Carrera chronograph. Not only was it the correct 7Axx clone configuration, but it also had a date window let into the 3 o'clock sub-dial - almost a 7A38. It intrigued me, but not enough for me to bid on it to win. I passed on a second NOS example a month later, which I've since regretted many times.

A couple of weeks ago, one came up on eBay in the States and as this seller had included a photo of the movement (which the two previous hadn't), I threw caution to the wind and decided I had to have one - just for it's curio value.

I did start to write up about it on page 3 of that same thread, but then decided it warranted its own topic. For those who might be interested in following my (typical anorak level) research so far, here's another link:

http://www.seiko7a38.com/apps/forums/topics/show/13399498-i-m-having-an-attack-of-the-carrera-7axx-clones

Here's a Q&D (as received) wrist shot of the watch in question - it's a Carrera model 515.11.

P1410086.jpg

and the eBay seller's photo (rotated through 90°) of the 15 jewel quartz movement - it's an MTM Cal. 869.10.

Carrera-7Axx-Clone-Stainless-BlackFace-e

I hoping someone on here can recognize / help identify the movement and name the manufacturer, be it Swiss or otherwise.

Ideally I'm looking for a tech. manual / schematic and as a 'nice to have' user instructions for the watch.

For those who don't wish to read through my thread, here's the last thing I posted, and my first problem:

You may notice that, unlike my usual standard of wrist shots, the hands are all over the place. :roll: There's a reason for that. :P
Firstly, unlike a Seiko 7Axx, the large sweep second hand is the constant (ticking) seconds hand - not the 6 o'clock sub-dial.
The pushers mostly work exactly the same as a 7Axx (including the 10 o'clock 'freeze and catch up' Lap function) - except I haven't yet figured out how they are supposed to be used to re-set the sub-dial hands. What the seller wrote in his listing description:
CHRONOGRAPH HANDS ADJUSTMENT FUNCTION PUSHER LOCATED AT 10 HOUR POSITION. 
Doesn't appear to work (for me) - not with the crown in any position. Of course, I don't have any instruction booklet to follow. :(

But there's worse ! This thing has serious erratic timekeeping issues. Particularly when worn, it can lose as much as 20 minutes an hour. The sweep second hand just randomly stops and starts again of its own accord. But then, left on the bench it can keep accurate time for hours on end. 

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Haven't taken the movement out of the case yet - for the simple reason I'm in correspondence with the eBay seller, who claimed in his description that he had serviced it. If I get really hacked off with it (and his current lack of response), I may well return it for a refund, so I can't (yet) be accused of tinkering with it. One thing I did when I first unpacked it was to wind the hands on though a full 24 hours (and then some), rather than use the quickset to advance the date, and I can't say I noticed any slippage then.

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No, No, No, Roger. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with TAG Heuer ! This watch is a (licensed) product of the Carrera Sunglasses company (now owned by the Italian Safilo group) - per the logo on the case-back. 

Carrera-7Axx-Clone-Stainless-BlackFace-e

Go read my research in the thread I linked. You'll be impressed - I was. :biggrin:

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Well, I've made a little progress, in that by some fluke, I've managed to reset the chronograph sub-dials to Zero. :biggrin: Not as the eBay seller stated in his description, using the 10 o'clock pusher, but in a method not dissimilar to the way you do it on a Seiko 7Axx - with the crown at the first setting position, then using each of the three pushers to reset the sub-dials in turn. The difference with this movement is that it seems to need to be in a setting mode as well, which more by luck than judgement, I found by holding in the 4 o'clock and 10 o'clock pushers in together for two seconds.

P1410087.jpgP1410088.jpg

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It's really strange that i can't find anything about the movement or watch on the net? Says Swiss made on the dial? So it should be a Swiss movement. 

But you never now? Can't even find MTM movements. Or the number 869.10. Or Carrera watches without ending up on Tag Heuer. Which it's not. 

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