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Summary
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We like vintage mechanical alarm watches. They are useful, the movements are interesting and complex, and they make us smile when the alarm goes-off. There’s nothing like the sound, charm, and feel of ringing and buzzing of a vintage mechanical watch doing its job, simply fueled by your own wrist motion or hand winding. This vintage alarm watch is an unusual example in that, while made in the early 1970’s, its dial captures the Art Deco era while the case screams the larger and sportier case designs of the 1970’s. Made by Gruen, who was an excellent manufacturer at the time, the case is high quality and the movement, made by A.Schild, is very robust. The movement in this watch is an A. Schild 1931 which is a bit unusual and rarer because it’s a variant of the more common A. Schild 1475 but has a higher frequency, 21,600 beats per hour, and includes the date. This is a great looking vintage watch on the wrist, it makes its presence known, giving a bit of an artistic feel due to its interesting eclectic design choices, and is easy to read. The watch includes an expensive lightly used midnight blue genuine alligator watch strap and a high quality RHD deployant with a satin finish to match the watch.
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Brand
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Gruen
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Type
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Manual Wind, Date, Alarm Watch
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Calibre
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A. Schild 1931
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Case Material
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Stainless Steel
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Size
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36mm wide 43mm lug to lug
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Strap
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Lightly used midnight blue genuine alligator watch strap (standard length) and a high quality RHD deployant -Important Note: For international sales, it is not possible to legally export alligator or crocodile straps from the US or import them into most countries without considerable CITES paperwork and permits. Without proper paperwork, watches can be seized by customs. If you are an international buyer, we will discuss your requirements and alternatives including separate shipment, substituting a high quality matching leather strap or providing a discount so you can purchase a new strap in-country.
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Age
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We estimate the watch was manufactured between 1970 and 1974 based on the era the calibre was manufactured.
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Service History
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Unknown service history. Comprehensive testing and performance measurement performed by ClockSavant.
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Condition
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Case has the typical scratches and dings that are common to watches of this age and add to its character. Similarly the dial shows some discoloration, again common for watches of this age.
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| Quality Control |
Comprehensive ClockSavant Testing. Performance measurement results for this watch are provided below. |
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Returns
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14-day return period provided that watch is returned in condition received.
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Warranty
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2 month warranty-- customer misuse, neglect, accidental, intentional, or unintentional damage are excluded from the warranty. See the Support page of our website for detailed warranty terms and conditions. For non-warranty damage, please contact us to obtain an estimate for servicing, repair, and restoration services.
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| Care and Use |
All mechanical watches, and especially vintage watches, require special consideration in handling, care, and use. In order to obtain warranty support or to return an item, it is necessary that the customer did not cause damage to the watch. See the Support page to learn more about how to protect and care for your investment. |
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Sales Tax
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North Carolina residents will pay sales tax
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Unique Guidance on the Operation of this Watch
This is an A. Schild 1931 alarm watch and it must be carefully set according to these instructions.
The watch has two crowns, one at 2 o’clock and another at 4 o’clock.
The crown at 4, when fully pressed into the case, is used to wind the watch. The watch should be fully wound before setting the alarm. This is a manual wind watch.
When you pull the crown at 4 out, you may set the time forwards or backwards. When moving the hands forward, when you pass midnight you will see the date increment.
In order to set the date, this is a semi-quickset design which is different from modern watch designs. To increment the date, once you pass midnight and see the date increment, move the hands backwards to about 9pm, then forwards past midnight again. The date will increment. Continue this process until the date is incremented to today’s date.
To set the Alarm, pull-out the crown at 2 o’clock and move the alarm hand backwards NOT FORWARDS. When you have moved the alarm hand to the desired time, leave the 2 o’clock crown out if you wish the alarm to go off in the future at that time or push the crown inwards if you wish it to not go-off. When the alarm does go-off later, you can stop the alarm by pushing the 2 o’clock alarm in.
ClockSavant Watchmaker Testing, Certification, and Performance Measurement
All the watches we sell go through a comprehensive series of ClockSavant-developed functional, stability, and performance tests and are only approved for sale if they meet or exceed the criteria we have established. Performance measurements for this watch are provided below. See the Support page of our website for an explanation of watch performance measurements and guidance on interpretation. The watch performance values provided do not necessarily reflect the accuracy you will experience based on your unique watch wearing habits. You may experience a gain or loss by as much as approximately 1 minute per day with vintage watches.
Legend: Rate, Amplitude (Amp), and Beat Error (BE) are provided for Dial-Up (CH) and Dial-Down (FH) positions. Averages (Avg) are also provided. These represent the average performance of the watch across all 6 traditionally measured watch positions which, in addition to dial-up and dial-down, are the vertical positions of Crown-Up, Crown-Down, Crown-Left, and Crown-Right. Rate is expressed in seconds gained or lost during a 24 hour period. Amplitude is in degrees. Beat Error is in milliseconds. Lift Angle used in measurement is unique to the particular watch calibre.
| Calibre |
A. Schild 1930 |
| Lift Angle |
52 |
| CH Rate |
-35 |
| Amp |
226 |
| BE |
0.7 |
| FH Rate |
-34 |
| Amp |
232 |
| BE |
0.7 |
| Avg Rate |
-53.83 |
| Avg Amp |
209.67 |
| Avg BE |
0.77 |
