Anyone here partake?

In-house movement(s) cal 74 + a date function twin.
Some nice dial designs.
Decent finishes and pretty solid seeming cases.

Near mint and mint watches can be had in the $125 to $225 range.

I just won an auction on an all stainless "Bison" model. Pictures look pretty good. Seller's photos:

 

I also grabbed a nice black dial Rado from the same seller...I always wanted one of these for the anchor spinning thingy. Got it today and seller did not disappoint. Price of admission was even less than the Glashutte... (Sellers photos):

 

Yes, these GDR era Glashutte's definitely have an utilitarian look and feel. The movements have a spring clip contraption holding the rotor down on the movement. I guess the pressure exerted from spring helps keep the rotor affixed tight to the movement and helps prevent a wobbly rotor from rubbing the caseback? Looks very "Soviet" to me. Meaning practical and inexpensive but not fancy in any way.

These purchases were a bit impulsive. That's why I'm soliciting anyone who has any experience or information for the Glashutte.

Thank you. Kind thoughts - enjoy your weekend.

-rich

 

Hi Rich,
Picked up one of these from the WUS site about 2 yrs ago...These aren't the best pics, but all that I have right now. Very nice piece, wears large on the wrist due to the narrow bezel. Makes for a nice business-y watch
I also found a bit of information on these, which follows the pics. Also there is a story on Hodinkee from a couple of years ago:

http://www.hodinkee.com/2011/6/13/a-lange-sohnes-caliber-28-the-only-lange-wristwatch-caliber.html







GUB Glashütte background information

The Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe (GUB) was formed in 1951 as a fusion of a number of nationalised watch, clock and instrument companies from in and around Glashütte, near the Czech border south of Dresden. As with other state-owned conglomerates in East Germany, the Glashütter Uhrenbetrieb was a "Volkseigene Betrieb" (VEB) which translates more or less a "People's Company". The full name was VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe GUB, later "VEB Uhrenwerk Glashütte im VEB Kombinat Mikroelektronik".

The companies combined into GUB included: VEB Mechanik Lange & Söhne (which was the nationalised A. Lange & Söhne), UROFA, UFAG and VEB Messtechnik (Mühle & Sohn, which was integrated in 1980). The process of concentration continued up to 1985.

Following the reunification of Germany, VEB Glashütter Uhrenbetriebe was re-privatised by the Treuhandanstalt, an organisation set up to take control of the many thousand VEBs and either privatise or close them. After privatisation, the company became Glasshütter Uhrenbetrieb GmbH (GmbH is the equivalent of a Private Limited Company).

The new company used the Kaliber GUB 10 - 30 movement family, which had been developed during the GDR period, as well as other movements inherited from VEB Glasütter Uhrenbetriebe. Swiss ETA movements were also used. Watches were produced under the brand names 'GUB' and 'Glashütte Original' (signature: "Glashütte original Germany" or "Glashütte Spezimat Germany").

Privatisation was completed in November 1994, with the brands 'Glashütte Original' and 'Union' being used. In 1997, a spin-off company Union Uhrenfabrik GmbH Glashütte was created for the 'Union' brand. Walter Lange, grandson of Alfred, with the backing of the IWC company, restored the A. Lange & Sohne brand, producing their own movements and elevating the brand to the lofty heights it occupies today.

Watches were labeled GUB until 1967, from 1967 onwards they were signed Glashütte. The 70.1 was a very common movement and came in three grades; standard, upgraded with a golden screw balance and the top version was a chronometer. In total 388,800 were produced from 1960-1971. The caliber 74 (internally known as the 06-25) was a very famous movement, the date version was the caliber 75 (GUB 06-26). Both movements were produced in masses from 1964 to 1979/1980, and approximately 280 different models were available. The annual output of cal. 74/75 watches was about 260,000. From 1964 to 1980 1,858,466 watches with cal. 75 were delivered. In the same period 1,857,966 watches with ca. 74 and 6,526 ebauches were sold. Cases were gold or chrome plated, with 24 different cases encompassing the whole model range.
In the early 1990s, the fall of the Berlin Wall led to the privatization of GUB and its constituent brands. A. Lange & Söhne and Glashütte Original were both resurrected and now are part of Richemont Group and Swatch Group, respectively.

Reference: Wener Heinrich "Mechanische Armbanduhren aus Glashütte 1950 - 1980: Werke, Kaliber, Gehäuse", Callwey Editors, ISBN:978-3-7667-1719-1

 

That's a beautiful watch. Save for the hands, It really looks like a JLC or IWC (think, say, Master Mariner).

*edit - you watching hockey?

 

Agreed! I don't know if the hands are original, but they do bear some resemblance to those on your watch, which I really like!

 

Streaming it on CBC...man, what a match!!

 

Wow, that is almost a "separated at birth" pair. Ok, maybe not, but close enough!

 

Hey Rich,
Does the anchor on the RADO rotate with the second hand or just spin around?

 

It appears to have a mind of it's own and is not as clever as I hoped for hahahaha.

*edit

I'm not sure if the case is supposed to be entirely polished. I wouldn't think so but the seller claims this model is supposed to be completely polished out. I think he's full of cow dung.

I need to find a picture of an original watch. There's plenty of meat left on the bone so I'm not too worried...

 

I'm working on a GUB watch right now actually. One thing to be aware of is that parts are pretty much non-existent for these in the normal watch parts supply channels. Even contacting a large parts supplier ion Germany I was basically told parts for these watches are pretty much not available.

Since I needed a new pallet fork for the watch I'm working on, my only choice was to buy a donor watch with the same movement.

If you buy one and plan to keep it long term, you might want to pick up a spare with the same movement as a parts donor...just a thought.

Cheers, Al

 

Yes, I'm going to take your advice (as I usually do) and purchase a working Cal.75.

I'm not too worried about sourcing parts because these watches are pretty easy to find in working order. I read somewhere that there were something like 300 to 400 separate models produced just for the cal. 75.

This is definitely "the people's watch".

 

It's late Sunday and started snowing.


With no more World Cup and tired of reading, I decided to look through the watches I haven't worn in awhile, where I found this old Glashütte.



It's one of my first buys when I started moving away from Hamiltons towards the wider watch world. This watch appealed to me because of the watch's appearance but also because of the history. (I've included the informative post below that was posted earlier in this thread.) Germany also has a strong family connection so it's a fun watch for me.

Thought this revival of an old thread might introduce the brand to a new audience or reconnect other fans like myself. Hopefully it'll lead to a rabbit hole of delight. The nice thing is that these are quite inexpensive while still being full of what makes old watches interesting.