Sometimes I feel like I am treading water in a sea of watches.


That was this moring.


It all started when I went to see what was wrong with the Timecraft chronograph. So I disassembled that a week or so back.

... then I bunged up the case. So I started seeing what was wrong with the pusher angles as the pusher was binding. Most likely this was for a Val-23 or similar. A case I got months back also turned out to fit the spare Val-23. Landerons are like a few mm smaller and have a different pusher case.

Then I went down the rabbit hole. There was a chrono case that showed up on an online auction. I figured that I would have a movement for it. This lead down another rabbit hole.

While waiting for the new chrono case to arrive, I started playing with the Venus 170 watches. Over the decades and when I was experimenting with dial making things got mixed up. These cases were even smaller. Another case I got online turned out to fit a V-170 perfectly. No luck thoug on using one of the V-170 case for the landeron 105/1280. Again the pushers are at a different angle.

I also had some pin lever chronos. But these have the pushers on the left. And so did the case I got this week. This was missing a pusher (The seller said they found it and are sending it.) By chance though I had a pusher that fit. Have been suspecting there was another pin lever chrono. Given that I have some cases marked R. Lapanouse.

Ranfft does not list movements with this name. Other searches and the name Rego comes up. This rabbit hole must go down the center of the earth and start coming out the other side.

Now I am back to Baumgartner. The watch I lost was a Baumgartner. I started comparing the watch I have with the movements I have to see if I do have a Rego. Almost bid on a BFG 670. Then discovered I had one mixed in with the other pin levers. Fits the new case perfectly as well as the Lampanous case.

So I did have a movement for the case I bought on Impulse.

Once the back is separated from the core, it is next to impossible to know what watch it really came from. I did get a few more cases matched to backs that sort of fit. Online searches do not seem to help as the term 'case' is to generic, and the algorithms seem to all be based on 'brands.' What I seek could be starring me right in the face, and I would not see the forest for the tree.

As for the Landeron that started this. As I messed up the case, I figured I would file it then see If I can replate it (which was the intended project last fall. I think this was the first case I bough online after the 18 year hiatus.

Now I am thinking perhaps I can use one of my scrap cases and add pushers to it. Which has lead to having everything spread out at once all over the bench.

With no problems solved.