Aeromatic 1912

[Rosco1]

Hi Everyone, I have been given an Aeromatic 1912 watch for repair and am trying to identify the movement in case I need spare parts. (see pics below)

Note the inner ring of numbers are mirror reversed! It is a Chinese movement marked 19 ZUAN ZLC.

Can anyone tell me what the double ended hand at the 8 O'clock position is called? It seems to just oscillate with the balance wheel.

I have had no luck locating this movement on the internet.

[bsoderling]

Isn’t this a version of the famous Chinese ”standard movement” that was introduced in the 70’s and produced in millions?

They were built by a multitude of factories, Zuan is probably one of many.

I have a friend who several years back bought a bunch of NOS watches directly from China where they had beem lying impossible to sell since ”quartz revolution”. Now they’re becoming collectibles, I hear.

May be hard to find specific spare parts but donor movements/watches similar enough might be possible to find on the web.


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[jdm]

4 hours ago, Rosco1 said:

Can anyone tell me what the double ended hand at the 8 O'clock position is called? It seems to just oscillate with the balance wheel.

I suspect the mov't is designed to have seconds either central or at 9 with just different assembly. But in this case, to add visual attractiveness, the oscillating bar was added.

2 hours ago, bsoderling said:

They were built by a multitude of factories, Zuan is probably one of many.

Zuan means jewel in Chinese. ZLC is for Liaocheng Watch Factory.
http://chinesewatchwiki.net/Common_markings_on_Chinese_watches

Edited November 19, 2019 by jdm

[AndyHull]

I suspect the Chinese standard mechanism is pretty much identical to one in this watch.

In the case of Chairman Mao, the oscillation is used to move his Malboro.

[jdm]

33 minutes ago, AndyHull said:

In the case of Chairman Mao, the oscillation is used to move his Malboro.

Maybe it was mean to show him dropping the bad habit. He stopped smoking in 1973, a bit late as he only lived until 1976.

http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0256-95742009000500012

[AndyHull]

8 hours ago, Rosco1 said:

I have had no luck locating this movement on the internet.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_standard_movement

Donor "Tongji" movements are relatively easy to find, and since they are "standard", most parts are interchangeable, with the possible exception of the modified parts used to add that oscillating hand.

The parts are often, even interchangeable between the automatic and manual wind versions. Furthermore, this movement is still in production in various forms, and at various facilities in China even to this day.

[Rosco1]

Thanks everyone for the replies and valuable information. It was the oscillating hand that puzzled me as I could not find any trace of it online but it sounds like it may be just an addition to the standard movement. The steep  learning curve continues.

[yankeedog]

Interesting..a gimmick to be sure.but it could  give you an idea of amplitude.dim electric  light might act as a strobe.60 hz is a multiple  of 18000 bph.

[jdm]

8 hours ago, yankeedog said:

Interesting..a gimmick to be sure.but it could  give you an idea of amplitude.dim electric  light might act as a strobe.60 hz is a multiple  of 18000 bph.

Well,  China mains are 50Hz. Both 50Hz and 60Hz are submultiple of 18,000 bhp (5Hz), but I doubt that can be used to get an idea of rate, and certainly not amplitude, because that pivot is not tied to the balance.

Edited November 20, 2019 by jdm

[WatchMaker]

An explanation for the mirror image numerals: http://www.wernersflyingwatches.com/products_ProID_14.html

[Rosco1]

Thanks for the explanation on the reverse numerals Watchaker