Kelek Chronograph

[galaxytime]

Purchased this awesome Kelek watch sometime ago. The movement is a Buren caliber 11 and the dial is just plain amazing to me. The only thing we are mssing is the hands. We have tried every supplier we can think of but to no avail. I've attached a picture I found online of a what the hands should look like. My watchmaker and I were discussing the possibility of custom making hands. Curious to hear some thoughts on this subject.

 

[gatorcpa]

The hands on the watch were made for some Heuer watches. They are just different colors, which can probably be painted.



There is, at the moment, a set of hour/minute hands for this watch (Carrera Ref. 1153) on sale at eBay. Not cheap, and not exactly the same shape.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/325841456174
The question is whether your watchmaker can paint them and can work around the original radioactive tritium.
gatorcpa

PS - I have a very similar watch with a Gruen name. Only thing different is the branding on the dial and movement bridges.

Edited: Jan 30, 2024

 

[sheepdoll]

I experimented a bit with a fiber laser. Was too slow to really etch into the metal.

I did try and use my CNC to cut a clock hand. The results were mixed. The tooling was too large.

I have also considered metal etching. I use to make PC boards that way. There is a lot of stuff written on modlers forums, especially the shipbuiling ones.

It might be possible to use a fiber laser to burn away some etch resit. PC boards are done with photo etching. I did have some luck using foil transfer paper (used in book binding and ceramic decorations.) to surface a hand so as to change it's color.

We did a bit of etching with bismuth as a resit in the enameled jewly classes.

Also over did it purchasing hand assortments. Some I have had for nearly 30 years. More recently I got some chronograph assortments from places like oFrei. Most of them are too long.

Quartz hands tend to have small holes. They also need to be light. I have considered rebushing nice hands. Bushing hands is something like my leather strap projects. Always something more important to do first.

One laments the loss of the Ranfft database, as this was a quick check of hand diameter. I think some of this is in bestfit, which used OCR so the search functions miss a lot. Data sheets also work.

Bergeon sells a tool for gaugung hands. I have used a clock taper pin and some fingernail polish to scratch mark the pin.

Mostly I work with Lemania, Landeron, Venus and Valjoux. I have not seen a Buren chronograph movement before with the micro rotor. I did get some pin lever chronos, which are a class unto themselves. Eventually I will need to source a Lemania 1280 hour hand , or a complete handset.

Did find a nice Enicar handset for a Val-23/72 that was offered cheap by a first time seller. So one can get lost down the rabbit hole of collecting hands as with any other part ...

 

[galaxytime]

gatorcpa

The hands on the watch were made for some Heuer watches. They are just different colors, which can probably be painted.



There is, at the moment, a set of hour/minute hands for this watch (Carrera Ref. 1153) on sale at eBay. Not cheap, and not exactly the same shape.



https://www.ebay.com/itm/325841456174
The question is whether your watchmaker can paint them and can work around the original radioactive tritium.
gatorcpa

PS - I have a very similar watch with a Gruen name. Only thing different is the branding on the dial and movement bridges.

Wow! The Gruen uses the same hands (or close enough for my likes). Thanks @gatorcpa
I'm going to search for hands using Gruen and see if I can get lucky. Do you happen to know the case reference/model number

 

[gatorcpa]

There is something engraved on the inside of the case:



I’ve never tried to look it up as a case reference. The reason is that by the early 1970’s, when this watch was made, Gruen had ceased to exist as a watch manufacturer. A Swiss company had purchased the company and was marketing generic watches in the U.S. using the name. However, identical watches exist under other names:







I think it’s highly unlikely that you will find a handset for these watches in the proper colors. They were just not that popular when they were made and were quickly rendered obsolete by quartz watches within a few years.

I wish you much luck with your restoration project.
gatorcpa

 

[Dsloan]

I have no useful thoughts on your handset problem, but that dial is amazing!

 

[gmmy775]

Hi Galaxytime

Very nice looking chronograph...with a cal 11 no less. Up to now I had not seen another Kelek chrono, besides the one I own. I am not sure how much the Heuer/Gruen set of hands will run you on the open market, or if you have already obtained them. I have coffee with a well-known watchmaker friend every week, and he was telling me about how he had to have another friend of his fabricate a set of hands for a very old AP he was servicing. This watchmaker routinely fabricates parts for a number of watchmakers and, according to James, duplicating hands is on the easier end of the spectrum of what he typically does. They did come out amazing. If you haven't come up with a solution yet, I will speak with him this weekend and see if he is willing to steer you towards his contemporary. Just let me know, and I will move this into a PM. James is generally buried with servicing vintage Airman watches for at least a year out, and I always ask before I give out his contact info.

Here's a couple of shots of my Kelek, which I had serviced about a year ago. It is a favorite. Of course it isn't in the same class as yours, as it has a VJ7733 instead of the Cal. 11 you have.

Wanna trade (smile).

Take care

jimmy

 

[galaxytime]

HI Jimmy,

Thanks so much for your reply/comments. Sorry it took so long to read and reply to your message...life through some hurdles my way. I am still searching for hands for my Kelek and would truly appreciate the possibility of finding out whether your watchmakers friend would entertain the idea of making hands for this. Please feel free to PM me at your convenience.

 

[galaxytime]

gatorcpa

There is something engraved on the inside of the case:



I’ve never tried to look it up as a case reference. The reason is that by the early 1970’s, when this watch was made, Gruen had ceased to exist as a watch manufacturer. A Swiss company had purchased the company and was marketing generic watches in the U.S. using the name. However, identical watches exist under other names:







I think it’s highly unlikely that you will find a handset for these watches in the proper colors. They were just not that popular when they were made and were quickly rendered obsolete by quartz watches within a few years.

I wish you much luck with your restoration project.
gatorcpa

I've asked Blake at ScothWatch and his reply.

"Can you also let me know what the Gruen caliber markings are? I am just curious about that, if they changed it to some sort of Gruen caliber or left the Heuer markings."

 

[galaxytime]

@gatorcpa I was wondering if you could be so kind as to share the Gruen markings on the movement.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[gatorcpa]

galaxytime

@gatorcpa I was wondering if you could be so kind as to share the Gruen markings on the movement.

It’s quite generic. No specific Gruen caliber markings, but just looking at it, pretty obvious what it is.



gatorcpa

 

[galaxytime]

Thanks so much! Really appreciate it @gatorcpa

 

[galaxytime]

I'm not very optimistic but no harm in trying.