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Summary
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Vintage alarm watches are loaded with charm, engineering, and history— watch manufacturers had to work hard to master the art of designing and making alarm watches as they required lots of power to sound the alarm and needed various mechanics to set the alarm and change it. This particular vintage alarm watch has a rare and unusual movement in it made by Ronda, the calibre 1243. Most alarm movements of this era (the 1960’s and 1970’s) were made by A. Schild and Vulcain. Ronda on the other hand made some mechanical watch movements, was a major manufacturer of OEM watch parts for a huge range of mechanical watches made by others and their own quartz movements. This is a rare and innovative vintage alarm watch. Ronda is still in business today making quartz movements. Something compelled Ronda to enter the alarm watch market with this movement. The timing probably wasn’t great, as we date this watch to the early 1970’s and the storm of the impending quartz revolution was about to create a crisis for all mechanical watchmakers including Ronda. Regardless, out of this came a rather innovative and well designed alarm movement. While other alarm movements can have rather eccentric methods of setting and arming the alarm, Ronda simplified all of it. See the instructions later in this listing for how to set the watch and the alarm. This is a fun and interesting alarm watch and a great addition to your collection.
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Brand
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Ronda
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Type
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Manual Wind, Alarm
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Calibre
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Ronda 1243
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Case Material
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Yellow gold plated |
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Size
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34mm
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Strap
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New old stock Hirsch watch band
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Age
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We estimate the watch was manufactured in the early 1970’s
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Service History
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When we purchased the watch approximately four years ago the seller stated the watch was serviced. We cannot attest to the service work performed but can confirm the watch is running well. We have performed comprehensive testing and performance measurement.
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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 alarm watch has unique setting requirements. Please read these instructions carefully.
It has two crowns, one at 2pm and another at 4pm.
To wind the watch for timekeeping, assure the 2pm crown is depressed into the case and wind forward as you would any watch.
To set the watch for timekeeping, pull-out the 2pm crown and move the hands forward/backwards as required.
To wind the alarm section of the watch to power the alarm, assure the 4pm crown is depressed into the case and wind forward.
To set the alarm, assure the 4pm crown is depressed into the case and wind backwards until the alarm indicator is aligned with the time you would like the alarm to go-off.
The alarm is automatically armed when you wind it. It stops on its own when triggered and your wind is exhausted.
Pulling-out the crown at 4pm performs no function.
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 |
Ronda 1243 17 Jewels |
| Lift Angle |
52 |
| CH Rate |
6 |
| Amp |
299 |
| BE |
0.8 |
| FH Rate |
11 |
| Amp |
276 |
| BE |
1 |
| Avg Rate |
13.5 |
| Avg Amp |
256.33 |
| Avg BE |
1.33 |
