Hey guys, here’s a fun brain teaser. So I bought a beautiful late 40’s Gruen at an antique store for $35. It ran and kept perfect time in the store after hand winding it a few turns so I bought it. Have worn it a couple times since, again hand winding it a dozen times to get it going but hadn’t gotten around to opening it up since I was just gonna take it to get serviced eventually anyway. Well, it stopped running the other day and when I pulled the back I discovered that someone took the rotor out. And of course the Gruen cal # was on the rotor. I assume the stoppage was the mainspring finally giving up the ghost as the balance is fine and it was on my wrist when it stopped. Anyone have any idea which movement this is so I can track down a parts movement?
There is one on Esty and it says the model is a 550SS. According to bidfun-db it has the Felsa 1560. http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&0&2uswk&Gruen_550SS https://www.etsy.com/listing/707479...VtwBWS-ltwfcDHRjsDZ0-6fn6d1-iJ2hoC3hoQAvD_BwE
Close, but not the same. If you look at the balance bridge (?) it’s curved on mine and strait on the 550
Interesting. It sure looks like the same watch in the photos, but the movement is slightly different. I wonder if there was a production variation in the look of the movement? .
Yeah, it’s a different model. Lots of the Gruens of this time look very similar but the subtitles give them away.
It’s at my buddies house so will have to ask him to look, but I think I found it digging through eBay pics of 10k movements. Please, those with eagle eyes confirm that this is indeed the same movement
Appears to be a Gruen only movement. BestFit catalog has no interchangeable parts listed. I poured through my box of Gruen parts watches and found several 5xx based and 480 automatic movements but no 490. Not a good sign. Sorry
Ok, looked it up on ranfft and no info. Was hoping to find who made it which could open the door to other parts movements, and cross reference to things like the correct replacement mainspring.
Gruen Wristwatches A Collectors Guide by Bruce Shawkey. Not specific on date but it's toward the end of a section of watches from 1935-1958.
Or manual wind I suspect a Gruen only. BestFit would have noted the base movement. Good luck with your search.
I have lots of Gruens in my stash. I’ll look through later. I can say it is most definitely not a Felsa movement.
I figured it was pre-‘59 as it says “Switzerland” on the dial. And @Canuck, I appreciate it. I made a low offer on the parter movement on eBay, we’ll see if they accept. So if it’s a Gruen proprietary movement, and Gruen is long gone, how do I find out what size mainspring it takes and where do I get one?
It’s a really pretty watch, I have a few Gruens from this period and its by far the most intersting with that wonderful dial and syringe red second hand. Plus it’s actually reasonably sized at around 34mm. Worth investing a little money into.