I see a lot of very nice movements being discarded when someone takes the gold case to sell the gold.

Is there any way to save those? Like this absolutely beautiful one:

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On the same JLC-ebauche as AP2003/VC1003/PP175...

Can such a movement be retrofitted in anything, just to be able to admire it? or is it too hard/expensive with all the measurements that have to match???

 

Looks like a Piguet caliber 21 base. Tons of watches use it.

 

That is a great looking movement. Too bad the person removing it from the case scratched it up a little around the set lever screw. Still looks great.

 

Welcome to the world of "project" watches. Usually these become a huge pain in the arse. You fall in love with a pretty movement or pretty dial then wait ages to find a correct case only to find that the case isn't quite right when it comes or you have to modify something to get it to fit.

On the plus side, it can be a relatively low cost way to assemble a nicer, higher value watch from parts.
On the minus side, what's the time, aggravation, and authenticity factor worth to you?

My advice: take a screen shot of the watch you like and wait for a correct, intact example to be offered for sale somewhere. (NB: if you already own a watch and need impossible to source parts, you start looking for orphaned movements)

 

yes... I have done a couple projects but those were very straightforward (7757 into generic 7750 case) 2824:s with oneoff dials...

...and my guess is that tolerances are so small that if the movement and case were not made to match, the hassle will be too big?
But could an underemployed silversmith make a case fom scratch in silver? doesn't have to be either fancy, watertight or robust, for a movement like the one above, used only with care... just exploring options...

 

With a modern looking dial like that one, it'd look rather dumb IMHO. Aside from all the Eastern European pocket watch to wrist watch non-sense, an underemployed silversmith could make a gorgeous case for an old pocket watch or even earlier wristwatch.

But if it's really that example you've fallen in love with... move along. There are more fish in the sea.

 

IMO, this is what the underemployed silversmith should be spending his time making:

These beautiful chronos by Eberhard were actually designed like this in a silver case (the back opens like a pocket watch btw). But think about all the old wristwatch sized elgin/porcelain dial trench watches that could be saved! That's a noble project. And have you seen those movements?! People toss them out like trash, but they're miniature works of art.

 

beautiful, I like your thoughts!

I have no attachement to the small infiniti, ugly hand/dial imho...

But an older one was certainly an idea worth keeping in mind, one must be very careful though (as you noted) not to end up with something looking like it came out of ukraine...

 

Here's a rather run of the mill example (just the first off of google image search):

 

Do note that the Elgin movement above is NOT a pocket watch to wrist watch conversion. These are the old tank watches. But sadly, many of the cases have been melted down.

So many gorgeous, orphaned movements. You could buy a bag of 20 of them for $200. And if you got someone to make a really nice looking solid silver case... I think you'd have a cool project.