The humble eta 2452

[Timelord]

Hope everyone is keeping well? Haven’t posted for a while,,but have been lurking!   I recently serviced an old watch sitting in one of the wardrobes having forgotten all about it!  I have been wearing it for almost a month now and cannot believe how incredibly accurate it has been.  On some days it has only picked up a couple of minutes and then slowly goes back to original time I set it.  I am happy with that for a 60 plus year old watch!  
 

i was pleasantly surprised to discover that some of those older Tudor snowflakes use this exact eta 2452!  I saw that on eBay they are so many of these movements and also well priced,!!  Some of these unknown brand watches range from as little as £70 to £2000.  I thought that I would raise this up with those wanting to further their projects with the parts problem issue.  I find these older movements much better than the latest 28xx series as they also have a stud screw to replace hair spring and also have a better  keyless works assemnly  without that horrible cover plate  spring!

[automatico]

Funny you should mention the ETA 2452, I've been going through ETA 245x watchjunk putting a couple together for projects. 

Hamilton used them in Thin-O-Matics in place of the Buren micro-rotor movement sometimes.  I call the ETA models Fat-O-Matics.

 

Ham ETA Fat-O-Matic date model etc...

Needed a 40 tooth hour wheel, 2879 parts were a no go (2452 on lower left).  Guy brought a BTM dial in (not the dial in the pic) and wanted a running watch made out of it.  Just the dial.  No kiddin'.  I guess it beats only the sweep second hand.  The BTM in the pic is a mock-up to make a movement holder.  Adjusted 24xx were used in a few Ball Trainmasters.

 

Leftovers...

 

Spade style BTM ETA RR hands are extremely hard to find, I am using H/M hands from a small pocket watch that had an ISA 1198 quartz movement.  The ISA hands are pretty close to ETA 245x sizes.

Example of spade H/M hands...

  

 

[Timelord]

21 hours ago, automatico said:

Funny you should mention the ETA 2452, I've been going through ETA 245x watchjunk putting a couple together for projects. 

Hamilton used them in Thin-O-Matics in place of the Buren micro-rotor movement sometimes. 

 

I was in two minds with what to do with mine as it had been sitting forgotten away from mind and sight!  I was almost going to scrap it ,but the stainless steel case caught my attention that it had to be of better quality than  the typical chrome plated ones, so I looked at it further !  
 

I pulled it apart for curiosity to compare it with the latest eta , but was pleasantly surprised at its construction!  I liked the way the hair spring comes off from stud by unscrewing the fine screw which is a far outcry from the current eta with the pressed in stud in the fork which is a throwaway if the spring gets damaged!  The Incabloc was nice too!    
 

It was quite a straightforward experience!  I cleaned it by hand washing each part first in detergent and distilled water with a kids toothbrush!  I then rinsed them in distilled water and dried them with cotton wool!  Left parts in a jar of naphtha for a few days, stirring the jar for a few moments a day!  When I assembled parts I only had 9010 and D5 just to get it running and I surprised myself that it is one of the best timekeepers I have!  Maybe not using the right oils in the Keyless works and on pallet stone will catch up with me soon, but until it lasts I am quite happy 😃 

 

In conclusion it is a great project movement for any other project!

 

[automatico]

"In conclusion it is a great project movement for any other project!"

 

Agree!

I put one in a bubbleback replica years ago and it ran fine for many years.  It still runs but it's past due for c/o.  I bought the watch on Yahoo! auctions in the late 1990s with a rusty ETA of some sort in it.