My fascination with short-lived technological transition pieces continues with this Girard Perregaux Electronic. Unlike the original Hamiltons, the electronic movements designed by this maker (ESA) that came out in the 70s were easy to service, robust, and way less temperamental. They also have a much higher beat rate than their predecessor. At 28,800 vph they run accurately and unbelievably smooth. It also comes with a crude but efficient hacking mechanism. One interesting thing about these movements is that the gear train must fit into a seemingly small portion of the movement in order to accommodate the electronics and the coil. It was a relatively straightforward service, but a fully enjoyable one nonetheless.
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- This watch features a Roamer MST 916 (which is really a ETA-ESA 9154 Dynotron), 20 micron gold plated, 20mm strap and with the original Roamer signed crystal. The candy stripe second hand is a lot of fun.
Generally when I work on a movement for the first time, I try to get one that is in running condition. In my conversations with many hobbyists who became quickly frustrated with the craft, the common thread was that they made the choice to buy broken movements and learn from there. The problem with this approach is that it is difficult to diagnose why something is not working if you have not taken the initial time to learn what makes it work, and how to properly take down, clean, and assemble a movement. The advantage to starting with a running movement is that you know that if you did everything right the piece will tick when you are done. That was my hope with this one.
I bought this watch as just a head in “working order.” Once again, a victim of believing everything you read in an eBay description, I found that while this watch was in absolutely pristine condition externally and on the dial, the electronics didn’t seem to want to work. I also noticed immediately that the circuit insulator had blistering on it from heat. Fortunately the ESA 9154 was a commonly used movement (unlike the super rare ESA 9176 which I am dying to get my hands on) and so I was able to get a harvester movement for at least the circuit insulator.
Next I set about disassembling the movement. While the electronics in these are a bit of a mystery to me, the rest of the mechanism is like any other watch, and so I took it all apart, cleaned everything (other than the electronics of course), gave it an inspection, oiling and reassembly. I then did what I assumed would be a logical step which was to inspect the coil for any defects or dirt. When I found none, I proceeded to put the whole thing back together (with the new circuit insulator) and with a fresh battery it came back to life.
I am unsure entirely why, but I love the balance on this watch. Its construction so perfectly encompasses classic and unchangeable balance elements with modern technology. It feels much more like a balance wheel than the Hamilton electric balances, and is much cleaner aesthetically. The movement of this balance wheel is also mesmerizing.
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The only odd problem with this movement is the absence of a quick release for the stem. It was quite a procedure to take out the stem, fit the movement in the case and then refit the whole works. Other than that though I love this movement. It runs super smooth and accurately.
All together it is a wonderful watch from the 70s. The case and dial are in phenomenal condition and the faded brown band helps to complement the watch without further accentuating how gold, clunky, and 70s it is as a gold band would have done. Although this is from a time when Girard Perregaux was not yet the brand it is today, it is still a great looking, well made, and accurate runner and a great piece of Girard Perregaux and horlogical history.
Battery powered watches are a bit of a rarity on the blog, this Zodiac Spacetronic is only the second.
(Click pictures to enlarge)
The founder of Zodiac, Ariste Calame, set up his first watchmaking workshop in 1864, but it wasn’t until 1908 that he registered the company name “Montres Zodiac”. Joined by his son, Louis Ariste Calame, and various other family members shortly afterwards, the company started to grow and developed strong export connections with the US.
A new factory was opened in Le Locle in 1951 and around that time, two significant models were gaining recognition; the “Autographic”, an automatic model with a power reserve indicator, and the watch for which Zodiac is probably best known, the “Sea Wolf” diver, first introduced in 1953. Flregkey reg fl studio 20.
Like many companies, the 1960’s and 70’s were the golden era for the brand with many visually and technically interesting models hitting the market, the Super Sea Wolf, Astrographic, and SST (Split Second Timing) models in particular. There were also some great mechanical chronographs sprinkled throughout the line-up, like this Cal. 90 powered model I repaired a couple of years ago.
For much more information about the Zodiac brand and their history, check out the site Vintage Zodiacs.
The Spacetronic model in this post is from the early 1970’s, a period when the line between mechanical and electric/electronic watches was blurring, resulting in hybrid calibres – battery powered watches with a traditional mechanical escapements. The calibre inside this watch is one such hybrid, the ESA Cal. 9150, also known as a “Dynotron”. I’ve written a description of how a Dynotron calibre works in a previous post, anyone interested can read that post here.
The watch arrived in good clean condition. The upper jewel and Incabloc shock spring were missing, but I had parts left over from my previous Dynotron project so that wouldn’t be a problem. Even with a new battery fitted, the watch showed no signs of life, and on close inspection I could see that the oil had completely dried out, so the first step was to service the movement.
After servicing, the watch would run in two or three positions, but would stop almost immediately in others. Watching the balance wheel in motion revealed that the magnets on the balance wheel were scraping on the induction coils, too much end shake perhaps?
Alas, I wasn’t that lucky as under the microscope I could see that the tip of the upper balance staff pivot had been broken off, possibly at the same time that the shock spring was damaged, so parts would be needed after all. However, my luck was in as a search on eBay quickly unearthed a brand new complete balance.
Esa 9154 Service Manual Free
Once the balance arrived it was plain sailing from there and the movement was back up and running again. The dial and hands were fitted, the case cleaned, and the crystal polished to finish the job.
Esa 9154 Service Manual Pdf
And finally, just to finish off this post, here’s an advert from 1970 showing the white dialled version of this watch, along with a couple of other models in the range.
Esa 9154 Service Manual Download
Rich.