Early Explorer Movement Options

[jmb]

As the price of ETA 2824 movements, and their clones, continues to skyrocket faster then Obama's fib count it might be time to think outside of the box.  Here is one option that currently is relatively inexpensive and appears to be an excellent quality movement.  I had never even heard of these until StoneP asked me to build him an Explorer around one of them.

 

StoneP's Explorer used a Felsa 4007 which I removed the date guts from and discovered that by gluing the dial directly to the movement the resulting "assembly" had the same stem position as a 2824 with dial spacer!  Once the watch was finished it was kind of neat watching the 18000 vph 5 beats per second, very nostalgic.  I decided to order me a few of these and found them quite reasonable from $30 - $50 each.

 

Today I had some spare time and decided to build me one and thought I'd post a couple of pics.  I used one of my case kits and all I needed to do was to modify the movement spacer that comes with the kit but reducing it's ID a few thousandths, use a smaller diameter scrw on the movement tabs, and one tab needed to be a bit skinnier that what we normally use on the ETA movements.

 

On StoneP's build I had to crimp the tubes on all the hands but on this movement the hour and minute hands were a perfect fit and only the tube on the sweep hand needed to be crimped. 

 

Here's a couple pics of the installed movement:

[lhooq]

Felsa Explorers!  Amazing!  Well done, J and StoneP. 

[droptopman]

J, you are a genius.  Love those old slow beat movements.  Was on the bay today looking for cheap donor watches with ETA's.  In one year the prices have more than doubled for those pieces with the gen ETA's in them.  It is crazy.

[automatico]

They are very good movements imho.

I used 1960s/1970s Bulova 11BLACD in a few projects but the prices have gone up on them. The 11ALACD is the same thing except for plating color...BLACD is gold tone and ALACD is silver tone.

[jmb]

I have been using the "best quality" asian clones for several years and they started around $60 but today they are over $100.  I picked up a Hamilton movement the other day that also looks promising...

[blue.]

Great alternative,J! Looks great.

Those ETA prices made me crazy too back then.

I was thinking about Sellita's (1:1 ETA clones, Swiss build), which even renowned watch brands like ORIS, Sinn and many others started building in their new models.

Sellita is a Swiss company (many of us have heard about them). They used to manufacture certain parts for ETA movements, but as the ETA patents expired, Sellita started building 1:1 clones.

Competition is a good thing, as prices may drop down, though reality is quite different. Sellita movements are hard to get, their price politics became similar to those of ETA.

Edited July 15, 2014 by blue.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

nice one!

[tomhorn]

Would the 2879 fit your case? They can be had on the bay NOS for $60 USD.

[jmb]

I believe they have about the same stem position as a 2836 so I have used them instead of a 2846...

[StoneP]

Guys the Felsa 4008 in my space dweller 1016 is a true "underdog" movement. The PR on mines is almost 48hrs after winding it up and not wearing it. It's truly the perfect movement for your JMB explorer 1016 builds @ 18kph same the movement in the gen 5500,6610 & 1016. I ve a 77j felsa 4007N & a 50j felsa 4000 I'm saving for later this year.

[StoneP]

Would the 2879 fit your case? They can be had on the bay NOS for $60 USD.

I'm going trying a 2873 & 2879...I will keep you posted!

[jmb]

Guys the Felsa 4008 in my space dweller 1016 is a true "underdog" movement. The PR on mines is almost 48hrs after winding it up and not wearing it. It's truly the perfect movement for your JMB explorer 1016 builds @ 18kph same the movement in the gen 5500,6610 & 1016. I ve a 77j felsa 4007N & a 50j felsa 4000 I'm saving for later this year.

I'm wondering if the PR might be a function of the slower beat rate, I guess I need to time this one and see.  I have two more waiting for builds...

[martijnp]

Nicely done!

[spazthecat]

Very nice!

 

I might just have to try that. Even the Felsa's on Ofrei are in the $80 range. So, still not bad price wise.

 

No chance it would fit in your movement spacer un-modified is there?

 

--Andy

[jmb]

I don't think so, you'll need to lathe or dremel the ID a little bit...  Of course, if you needed another case kit and specified you were going to use a Felsa then I could fit one for you...