Hey UG fans, I picked up a nice 'bohemian' watch branded Berthoud Geneve which I understand may have been one half of the original pairing that eventually became Universal Geneve. I can't find much info about them, I think in part because the Berthoud name is quite common in the histories of watches and watch companies. It's a nice 39mm. The seller said it has an AS movement. I don't know what that means. There's not much in the way of markings on the movement - no manufacturer, no serial, no caliber.. just 15 jewels and Swiss made. I'd really appreciate a few tips on where I might learn some more. I'm quite taken with the style and it wears well at the larger size. Wondering about servicing too. I'm not too fussed about originality, more about longevity. The seller asserted that this watch is from the '30ies, so I'd imagine I'd have to take what I can get if anything is amiss. One of the things that strikes me is how contemporary it looks along side some of the Nomos lineup. Anyway, I'm sure it's not the most desirable piece, but here's a few pics.. Edit: Nothing on the inside caseback either.. and a couple of movement pics..
Hi, No serial, no ref., no brand markings on the back cover and movement ?.... It looks very suspicious to me.
I like the look of that watch a lot. When I hear AS for a movement, I think A. Shild, a pretty common movement seen in many brands of low to middle quality. I suppose a look through Ranfft might turn up that particular one...
Thanks Doug! I will see what I can find. @10H10, I'm not too fussed. The watch was very cheap and I really like the look of it. Just trying to learn a bit more about it and see if I can confirm rough age, mainly out of interest.
I just looked at Rannft, and there's this AS 612, that looks quite similar, this one from 1925: http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?11&ranfft&&2uswk&AS_612
I couldn't find any exact bridge matches, but the ETA 2325 series looks quite similar, too, but those are later... and now looking again, not as similar as the AS 612....
GP gyromatic is a AS movement Automatic but you can see where the movement number is usually place on them at about 1oclock
I think it's the AS 302 (or related one).. the layout matches as far as I can tell. that's a great lead! thanks gents! still, strange that there are no visible markings, but who knows what this watch has seen.. if it does in fact date to the 30's, then it's at least 77 years old and at the outside, 86 years old... kinda cool. assuming it is (or is related to) the AS 302, what's service and parts availability like? are the bits common? I'm not so fussed about restoring originality, but i would like to take care of it and see if we can get it to 100 years!