07 Feb 2015, 01:12
This week I received a lot of 7 LCD watches I bought basically for a Nos Mondaine amongst them and a Citizen movement (its display)
After receiving it (always feeling like the kid with the candy box when opening the box..) I ran through the watches, examined their movements and made a quick selection.
The star of this topic was judged and put aside;
An unknown brand to me, a destroyed movement (both - connectors completely gone due to battery acid)and a not so attractive case design (chromed brass, stainless steel case back, outdated model)
Also, the movement reminded me of the very early cheaper Hong Kong movements of the 70's (interesting though with their porcelain circuits, but poorly build and a vulnerable case design), like this one:
I put in two too big chinese crap 'test' batteries for the pictures. If any of you guys can say something about this movement, please do so. I think its '74/'75 Hong Kong made (case back states 'Hong Kong' amongst other usual info)
I started working on the other watches, but this watch was still in my mind, mainly because of the crystal-with-lightning symbol on the dial which I like a lot..
Ok, lets have another look I thought, maybe its worth restoring after all
When I had another, closer, look at the movement I realized that it reminded me of a Microma movement I used to own: CLICK
Yep, a Microma.
This made it more interesting all in a sudden, so I decided to give it a go.
As mentioned before, both - connectors were gone. I removed what was destroyed (one completely, one partly) and made two new ones out of solid brass plate (0,5mm). As solid brass is a bit soft I glued a small piece of rubber just below the contact point with the battery to keep them in place and secure a good contact with the battery. I soldered both parts to the movement which went very well (this wont work without a professional soldering station, microscope, several cleaning equipment to remove the original soldering, a flux pen etc etc. Don't start without good tools, it will ruin your movements). I re-soldered the light wire to the new - connector and the first part of restoration was finished:
The crystal was pretty bad. That is, its top polarizing filter was severely scratched (the watch had obviously been tinkered with before). I took the descision to use the bolder method: grinding with grain 2500, then 'polishing' it (leaving it with a matted surface, but considerably less scratched
After grinding but before the polishing
The movement has a pretty uncomfortable way of attaching the crystal. Being as careful as possible I ended up cracking a small part of the crystal (upper left side), fortunately being the upside, not affecting the contact points to the circuit on its lower part ...
As some digits tended to disappear due to lack of pressure to the circuit, I put a small piece of rubber on the crystal retainer (below '9' in the picture) to give some extra pressure by the dial when the case back is applied
The Egosta dial obviously hasn't been original to this movement. Both dial pins don't line up with the movement.
Actually I believe this case and movement were original Microma, but ended up with another dial. Share your thought on this!
I removed the pins (what was left of it, a previous owner already tried to remove some of it ) with the Dremel tool and attached the dial with some sticky dial pads to keep it in place:
Note this fantastic logo with the crystal and lightning bolt! Maybe I will print that on a Tshirt this summer! ;)
Then, finally the finished watch. Its running fine with a working light bulb (this movement has a separate battery/circuit especially for the light bulb, interesting)
The Egosta/Microma:
I am wondering. The first DSM watches (Nepro etc) were produced in 1972. Seiko produced its first 6 digit LCD in 1973.
Nevertheless, at the same time I am reading that :
Source: CLICK
Actually it is readable in a few sources when googling.
This is not the first field effect LCD watch for sure, but why do these sources say so? It makes me wonder
Thanks for watching guys. Its been a fun project, and very rewarding after all, I like the watch, it grew on me during the work.
I believe this Microma movement is manufactured in 1974 due to the info found online. Am I correct?
All additional info is welcome, Thanks in advance!
Cheers!
After receiving it (always feeling like the kid with the candy box when opening the box..) I ran through the watches, examined their movements and made a quick selection.
The star of this topic was judged and put aside;
An unknown brand to me, a destroyed movement (both - connectors completely gone due to battery acid)and a not so attractive case design (chromed brass, stainless steel case back, outdated model)
Also, the movement reminded me of the very early cheaper Hong Kong movements of the 70's (interesting though with their porcelain circuits, but poorly build and a vulnerable case design), like this one:
I put in two too big chinese crap 'test' batteries for the pictures. If any of you guys can say something about this movement, please do so. I think its '74/'75 Hong Kong made (case back states 'Hong Kong' amongst other usual info)
I started working on the other watches, but this watch was still in my mind, mainly because of the crystal-with-lightning symbol on the dial which I like a lot..
Ok, lets have another look I thought, maybe its worth restoring after all
When I had another, closer, look at the movement I realized that it reminded me of a Microma movement I used to own: CLICK
Yep, a Microma.
This made it more interesting all in a sudden, so I decided to give it a go.
As mentioned before, both - connectors were gone. I removed what was destroyed (one completely, one partly) and made two new ones out of solid brass plate (0,5mm). As solid brass is a bit soft I glued a small piece of rubber just below the contact point with the battery to keep them in place and secure a good contact with the battery. I soldered both parts to the movement which went very well (this wont work without a professional soldering station, microscope, several cleaning equipment to remove the original soldering, a flux pen etc etc. Don't start without good tools, it will ruin your movements). I re-soldered the light wire to the new - connector and the first part of restoration was finished:
The crystal was pretty bad. That is, its top polarizing filter was severely scratched (the watch had obviously been tinkered with before). I took the descision to use the bolder method: grinding with grain 2500, then 'polishing' it (leaving it with a matted surface, but considerably less scratched
After grinding but before the polishing
The movement has a pretty uncomfortable way of attaching the crystal. Being as careful as possible I ended up cracking a small part of the crystal (upper left side), fortunately being the upside, not affecting the contact points to the circuit on its lower part ...
As some digits tended to disappear due to lack of pressure to the circuit, I put a small piece of rubber on the crystal retainer (below '9' in the picture) to give some extra pressure by the dial when the case back is applied
The Egosta dial obviously hasn't been original to this movement. Both dial pins don't line up with the movement.
Actually I believe this case and movement were original Microma, but ended up with another dial. Share your thought on this!
I removed the pins (what was left of it, a previous owner already tried to remove some of it ) with the Dremel tool and attached the dial with some sticky dial pads to keep it in place:
Note this fantastic logo with the crystal and lightning bolt! Maybe I will print that on a Tshirt this summer! ;)
Then, finally the finished watch. Its running fine with a working light bulb (this movement has a separate battery/circuit especially for the light bulb, interesting)
The Egosta/Microma:
I am wondering. The first DSM watches (Nepro etc) were produced in 1972. Seiko produced its first 6 digit LCD in 1973.
Nevertheless, at the same time I am reading that :
The First LCD Watch
Around the same time that Roger Moore was checking his Pulsar for the precise time, engineers were producing a new low-powered LCD chip that extended watch battery life by leaps and bounds. This effort made way for the watchmaking industry’s first LCD watch, which was the Microma. Interestingly, Microma was a subsidiary of the Intel Corporation. Intel acquired Microma in 1972. In 1974, after creating the perfect chip that would perpetually display the correct time, the Intel Corporation learned that success in the watch industry heavily depended on marketing. They made one television commercial that cost the company a whopping $600,000. When the Microma failed as a consumer product, Intel swore off anything to do with marketing to consumers. Intel’s former CEO, Andy Grove, wore the Microma to remind himself to never get into the consumer products business again. He called the watch his 15 million dollar watch, which revealed how much money Intel lost on the Microma. Whenever someone would approach him with an idea that would require marketing directly to consumers, Andy would look at his watch before turning them away.
The World's First LCD Watch
The Microma: The World’s First LCD Wrist Watch
The Intel Corporation made a wise move. LCD watches were about to go from a retail price of $200.00 to less than $20.00. The low price was attributable to the advent of a new watch made by a Japanese company known as Casio. Casio was widely known for their Casio Mini, which was a small calculator. Previously, calculators were only seen in office environments, and they were huge. Casio produced small, portable calculators, and they were a big hit with consumers. Casio got into the watch business in November, 1974; they produced large quantities of watches, which drove down the price of digital watches.
Source: CLICK
Actually it is readable in a few sources when googling.
This is not the first field effect LCD watch for sure, but why do these sources say so? It makes me wonder
Thanks for watching guys. Its been a fun project, and very rewarding after all, I like the watch, it grew on me during the work.
I believe this Microma movement is manufactured in 1974 due to the info found online. Am I correct?
All additional info is welcome, Thanks in advance!
Cheers!
Great job restoring.
. I dont ever remember seeing the model with the extremely cool orange volt. 