KMII
[Montblanc Moderator]
41388
Overview of deadbeat seconds watches and calibres (please contribute)
Every now and then I find a topic or theme in horology that awakens my curiosity (high frequency watches: www.watchprosite.com
has been one). The latest one are deadbeat seconds watches, also known as jumping seconds or seconde morte pieces. Unlike the high frequency topic, which has been a collecting theme of mine for a while, this is more of an Umberto Ecco style ‘anti library’ for me so far - something yet to get into.
I find the idea of a mechanical watch that to the uninitiated looks like a quartz quite appealing and such watches are in a way possessed of a certain amount of additional stealthiness, which I appreciate.
So a bit of desk research led me to the following list (certainly far from complete) and any pieces I have missed I would be very happy to hear about from you - and I shall add them ASAP.
Picture from: Professional Watches
So here it goes, in alphabetical order, and limited to wristwatches only:
- A. Lange und Söhne Richard Lange Jumping Seconds Cal. L094.1
- A. Lange und Söhne 1815 ‚Homage to Walter Lange‘ Cal. L1924
- Andreas Strehler Lune Exacte
- Angelus U10 Tourbillon Lumiere Cal. A100
- Arnold & Son Dial Side True Beat Cal. A&S6003
- Arnold & Son Constant Force Tourbillon Cal. A&S5119
- Arnold & Son Golden Wheel Cal. A&S6018
- Arnold & Son TB88 Cal A&S5003
- Arnold & Son Chronograph True Beat Cal A&S7103
- Arnold & Son True Beat Retrograde Cal A&S6008
- Arnold & Son TB Cal A&S6103
- Audemars Piguet Millennary Deadbeat Seconds Cal. 2905
- De Bethune DB16 Cal. DB2509
- De Bethune DB25T Cal. DB2109
- DeWitt Academia Out of Time Cal. DW1201
- Doxa Jumping Seconds Chezard Cal. 2-115 & Cal. 116
- Erwin Sattler Regulateur Classica Secunda (movement by Habring2)
- F P Journe Tourbillon Souverain
- Greubel & Forsey Differentiel d‘Egalite
- Grönefeld One Hertz 1912 Cal. G-02
- H Moser & Cie. Saltofix
- H Moser & Cie. Esculape
- Habring2 Jumping Seconds Pilot Cal. A11MS / A11S
- Habring 2 Erwin Cal. A11MS / A11S
- Habring2 Foudroyante Cal. A11F
- Habring2 Foudroyante Felix Cal. A11FD
- IWC Portuguese Sidereale Scafusia Cal. 94900
- Jaeger LeCoultre Geophysic True Second Cal. 770
- Jaeger LeCoultre Geophysic Universal Time Cal. 772
- Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Deadbeat Cal. 2695 SMR
- Lang und Heyne Konrad Constant Force Remontoir and Deadbeat Seconds
- Lang und Heyne Heinrich
- Leroy Osmior Chronometre a Tourbillon Cal. L100
- Omega Synchrobeat Cal. 372
- Panerai Radiomir Independent Cal. Chezard 7400
- Paul Gerber 410/416 Cal. 41
- Rolex 6556 Oyster Tru-Beat Cal. 1040
That’s all I found so far.
Adjusted title spelling
This message has been edited by cazalea on 2018-12-28 05:21:11
Overview of deadbeat seconds watches and calibres (please contribute)
Every now and then I find a topic or theme in horology that awakens my curiosity (high frequency watches: has been one). The latest one are deadbeat seconds watches, also known as jumping seconds or seconde morte pieces. Unlike the high frequency topic, ...
Sorry, my mind is not what it once was 😉
But I promise to keep updating the original post 👍🏻
Three or four 😱. One or two will do for me 🤗
Gronefeld , FPJ , Moser , DB or when i do get lucky one day (money wise ) Greubel F. 🙏🏻
Not all at the same time :)
And maybe not the same ones to start with Btw. the Moser ones were products of the 1950s (the Saltofix from 1955 to 1956, for the Esculab I do not know), so a different Moser from what you know today
That's why I figured the disclaimer might be in order ;)
So you don't unduly worry your AD Yet if you get Moser to make a modern reissue, I would be more than happy
A very nice looking JLC 👌🏻
Thanks . But for now i will stick to indie brands or my collection will be out of control i think 😉
Certainly quite high on my list!
Will however not be my first JLC - a non-deadbeat seconds one is already on its way 😊 Thanks for sharing yours!
Paul's 416
Allows for a selection of either jump or sweep. (Press at the 2 o'clock position) ...
Thanks for this...
Had it under Paul Gerber in both the steel and gold varieties (416/410) 👍🏻 Some early ones had the switch operated by the crown, before the pusher got used 😊
A few more models from Arnold & Son come to mind
TB88 Cal A&S5003 Chronograph True Beat Cal A&S7103 True Beat Retrograde Cal A&S6008 TB Cal A&S6103
Seems like a complication Arnold & Son is taking very seriously!
Thanks for adding these, will put them into the sheet ASAP 👍🏻
There is an additional Lang & Heyne model, the Heinrich.
It gains a power reserve complication in addition to all that the Konrad sports. Also has a rather charming solid silver dial with romans. Disclosure, this belongs to a dear friend who added a couple of features, the hinged solid gold case back and a caba...
Try again with the pics...
Am sitting at MIA, so WiFi in the Amex Centurion lounge is a bit iffy! Cheers, Tim ...
Even better with the pictures!
Not sure what happened to them in the first post - they appear to be in but don’t display 🤷🏻♂️
Here's a rather obscure one: Erwin Sattler Regulateur Classica Secunda
Powered by a Habring2 deadbeat movement. www.erwinsattler.com .html#!div1 Regards, skyeriding
Thanks a lot for adding this one, Skyeriding!
Have amended the original post accordingly 👍🏻
Tru-Beat
i had these two pieces a number of years ago, and would spend quite some time marveling at the second hand movement. Then I auctioned them off. Beautiful pieces, but the scarcity of the parts made me sell them. ...
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Mark!
I have read that in earlier times watchmakers simply exchanged the 1040 movements with the 1030s, so as to avoid service issues. Such a waste 🤷🏻♂️ But I do understand that spare parts availability must be a nightmare...
Glad you like it, Nico!
I have to say I was surprised at how many there have been / there are. Habring and JLC are well known for the complication but it seems there’s so much more in this direction 😊
You're more than welcome, Eklektik!
It is certainly one that has been intriguing me for a while, too. Especially like the fairly rare boutique edition, with the blue dial. As usually my timing was somewhat off, and now chasing one on the secondary market is proving difficult
Although the idea is intriguing I still don’t know where is stand on this complication.
Sometimes I think: yes, a quartz look alike is fun (and under the radar, although I highly doubt non watch people would ever notice either way...). But more often I think: why on earth would I want a second hand that reminds me of quartz movements every s...
Look at it this way: a reminder of the vintage pendulum clock
As a one-second period was very common and reflected by the movement of the second hand. (Quartz is merely similar to that and the seconds don’t have to jump but saves energy) Exhibit A: Bulova Accuquartz - smooth sweep seconds Which do you prefer: hummmm...
Good one, I'll try to keep that in mind.
Although those clocks are before my time so there is no positive emotional connection to the dead beat second. Apart from hearing that sound at my grandfolks. 😬
Not into clocks then? 😊
Not into them myself, although the children love them at their grandparents place, especially winding them. My wife is adamantly against, though, claiming watches are more than enough 😉
Maybe an Atmos at some point in time.
Or a Christiaan vd Klaauw clock but try finding one...
Just discovered on Amazon
Bulova Precisionist Watch, only $200 delivered today with smooth sweeping hand due to 262000 MHz crystal. Said to keep time to a few seconds a year. Blue dial too! Buy one of these and you’ll say “I love that classy deadbeat Gronefeld with second hand tha...
Mine is relatively spot on...
Went for the Accutron II Spaceview and in spite of it having the lower grade Precisionist movement due to the smaller case size its accuracy is amazing. Need to check but it was around 15 secs / 18 months or so.
So that was the reason, Mike?
I supposed it was to differentiate the back then new, expensive and exciting technology (as quartz tended to be initially) but I guess the more mundane one is probably more correct, as always 😊
That’s a Grönefeld magic, I guess...
Not sure to what extent accuracy is affected in the end 🤷🏻♂️
It’s personal, I guess...
So right for some and not for others 😊 And I fully agree that most people don’t notice what you’re wearing anyway. I guess with a dead seconds watch you reduce the chances of noticing from between slim and remote to almost nil. So possibly not very much. ...
I believe, dear KMII, that you may be a bit obsessive on certain topics
Like high frequency movements, deadbeat seconds... Like GLau on enameled dials, like Crown Comfort on GP, Bill on dive watches, Andrew on orange accents, like myself on various subjects... How did I start on categorizing GS watches, and my worst / best ex...
Right you are, Mike 😊
That’s the beauty of sharing the passion with like minded people. Who knows what comes next - fortunately it takes some time to do, otherwise there’d be too many of those oddities 😉 And one has to say, you’ve been a shining example for us to follow in thi...
Intriguing that you picked up on the Synchrobeat, K . . .
. . . as it's one of the rarest and scarcest Omega chronometers. I believe they were issued contemporaneously with Rolex's Tru-Beat, around '53 or '54. The story is they were so unreliable that Norman Morris, the US agent, issued a recall. (That would exp...
It’s a rare bird indeed, Art...
I believe the recall you mentioned led to very few remaining on the market. I have read somewhere that the grand total is 17 pieces but cannot verify that 🤷🏻♂️ The chances of bagging that one are certainly between slim and remote 🙁
I regard the purported figure of seventeen examples . . .
. . . in circulation as mythical. The population is likely in the two-figure range, but doubtful it can be nailed down that precisely. The contemporary ref 14311 chronometer (cal 352) was probably built in comparable numbers, but they pop up every now and...
I fully understand you, Art
At this point it’s unlikely one can pin it down with such precision. Let’s call it the rarest of the lot and we’ll certainly be right 😉
