Marvin 580 'Bestfit' help

[WatchMaker]

Marvin was (is!) a long-established brand that mainly used bought in movements from the likes of ETA, AS and Felsa for its watches. They did however produce an in-house movement in the mid-1950s called the 580 (which came in a few variants). Can anyone help me, perhaps a guru with a Bestfit Encyclopedia, on whether this 580 was literally a unique design by Marvin or based on a more common movement and thus there are part interchangeability options? I've scoured the internet but found it difficult to come up with any useful information or documents on the 580. Any help would be gratefully received.

[oldhippy]

Here is a list of all the Marvin 580 parts along with makes of those parts that are interchangeable with other makes and cal. This is from the Bestfit catalogue.  I have put it in a Word doc for you.

Case Caliber Marvin 580.docx

[WatchMaker]

Wow - that is brilliant; thank @oldhippy 

Your document extensively mentions the ETA 2890 / 2 movements which a quick check on ranfft says came into being in the mid-1970s as a 12.5''' movement. And yet the 580 (and specifically the 580C which I'm most interested in with the calendar mech which I assume is also ETA 2890 / 2 related?) was designed in the mid-1950s ... as well as being a 11.5''' movement.

My reading around the little on the 580 that exists is that it was an in-house design by Marvin but this Bestfit information suggests that ETA pinched this design to turn into the 2890. Sure the 2890 had predecessors of the Eterna 1504 but, that again, was a 1970's movement. Interesting!

I'm going to look into getting a Bestfit Encyclopedia of my own so I can research this more!

[noirrac1j]

Hello,

Adding onto what @oldhippy has posted, here are the Marvin 580 numbers that you can use to match the Bestfit numbers. Its not a word doc, and if you need help with a particular part let me know and I can look up more specific info.

J

[WatchMaker]

Thank you very much J (@noirrac1j) - that's incredibly helpful.

I've managed so far without a Bestfit Encyclopedia ... and in any case always thought they were weighty vintage tomes with a corresponding weighty price. This thread has prompted me to look closer and find that I can actually get an electronic copy online for relatively little money. It's now on my shopping list!

The main reason for this thread is that sourcing 580C parts has proved difficult so I'm going to see if I can 'BestFit' from other sources. Interesting, for instance, to see that a calendar intermediate wheel comes from a Record 107C! 

[noirrac1j]

7 hours ago, WatchMaker said:

Thank you very much J (@noirrac1j) - that's incredibly helpful.

Glad to be of help.

J