Thanks for the great writeup of these iconic watches.

 

Yes, thanks for the very nice write-up. I love these older Memovox watches. Here's my cal 814 10K gold filled "Golden Heritage Time Reminder." The flyer I have indicated it was a product of Vacheron & Constantin - LeCoultre Watches, Inc., Division of Longines Wittnauer Watch Company.

 

Nice write-up. One thing missing was the different shock protection. If the caliber designation had a K, it used Kif and if it had a P it used Parachoc.

The 815 and 825 date calibers had an interesting quirk you touched on by mentioning the alarm post interference. Even if the alarm was not wound, when it came close to the time it was set for the rotor made a much more audible clicking. You can stop this by pulling the alarm crown out.

 

Thanks for the nice writeup. Love how the classic memovoxes evolve to the Deep Sea Alarm and Polaris and to the funky Snowdrop and highbeat models in the 70s.

 

This happens because the alarm release is triggered, and this allows the hammer (I think this is what you are calling the rotor) to release and flop around. Even my modern Master Compressor Memovox with the Cal. 918 does this:



The older watches tend to buzz more than ring, where the newer models have that old "school bell" tone to them:

Here is a video of a Cal. 814 I serviced a while back, showing the alarm being actuated and the hammer running:

The hammer strikes a post mounted to the case back to create the buzzing sound as shown in the photo above. On the modern version there is actually a gong inside the case back:



Big fan of the JLC alarm watches, and enjoy servicing the older models too, although parts can be difficult to find these days.

Cheers, Al

 

Al,
How would you compare the tone on the vintage JLC alarms vs. the AS1475s? I've got a couple of the latter, but have never splurged on the former.

Super cool complications. And they actually work. Put one of those suckers on the bedside table, and you'll wake up in a startle thinking there's an earthquake. (The vibrations resonate in my bedside table/stand and make quite a racket).

 

You don't see too many of those fluted bezels on the Memovox pieces. Very classy, and kind of reminds me of the rolex watches from the 80s.

 

I would say the JLC is a bit softer....

And yes I am a fan of alarm watches, and some can be very simple like the Memovox movement, and some more complicated - this is a Benrus I serviced a while back:



Note the dot under the 12 o'clock marker - this is actually a window in the dial, and behind it there is a little red/white flag that indicates if the alarm is set or not. You will also notice there is only one crown, but the watch is manual wind for both the time and alarm mainsprings. Takes a little bit of thought to make that work with just one crown.

Here is the movement - it's a Langendorf Cal. 1241, and you will also see a slotted screw head sticking up on the balance cock. There is a cover that is screwed over the movement before it's put into the case, and this screw allows the user to adjust the rate of the watch without removing the cover and exposing the movement to any damage.



I made this video to show how all the functions of this little movement work for winding, setting, and triggering the alarm...

All cool stuff.

Cheers, Al

 

Very cool. Thanks for the demonstration on the Langendorf movement. The single crown makes my Vulcain 120 Cricket based watch look like a piece of cake to operate. Winding of both the main watch and alarm mainspring is done by either winding clockwise or counter clockwise, and the pusher's only function is to deactivate the alarm:

 

I've got a NOS case, dial, crystal, and one crown for a Benrus Wristalarm and just need the movement. I think it's an AS but not sure.



I'd love to complete it and wear it as a sort of beater / alarm watch for work since I don't want to damage the JLC.

 

With that crown configuration and no date, it's going to be an AS (A. Schild) 1475. Do you have hands, stems, and crucially, the appropriate caseback with the post sticking up?

 

Just got another crown for it, and the caseback is attached to the cast. A stem isn't usually a big thing to have cut to the appropriate length (I hope) but I don't have hands.

 

A stem is easy to size. The hands may be an issue. Your best bet might be to scour the bay for a donor watch with a cruddy dial that way you get the correct hands. Otherwise it can be very difficult.

I've got a Tudor Advisor with my watchmaker now. I sent it with a nearly NOS AS1475 movement should he need parts. The Tudor looked to be in good shape, so I may end up with a great condition movement for you.

It'd be interesting to get real numbers, but the AS1475 was one of the most popular and ubiquitous of the alarm movements, so aside from specific hands or signed alarm crowns, tracking down parts or donor movements shouldn't be too bad.

 

I was thinking exactly that.

Cool! Let me know if/when you're ready to sell it.

 

Hi there,

just join the group and as a first thing I would like to congratulate you for all the information provided.

In your question "if anyone has seen the same example but w/Cal. 916" it happens to be the owner of one of these, I believe, rare examples. Does anyone knows the value of this watch? Thanks

 

This is an amazing discussion! Glad I stumbled upon ...

 

I only joined this forum a week ago but I stumbled thorough this thread while googling last year and it prompted me to snatch this up thanks for such an inspiring write up.