Service: Accurist Marin Graf / ETA 2452

IMG_7849Mitka saw this watch on eBay, and as he knows that I quite like Accurist watches, he pointed it out to me. The seller claimed that these watches were never sold, as the screw-down crown violated the Rolex patent at the time, so the watches were destroyed. A nice story, but I couldn’t find out if that was true or not. I’ve written to Accurist, but haven’t gotten a reply so far.

IMG_7850The case is in very nice condition.IMG_7851

The case back gasket has become hard, but it’s easy enough to find a new O ring that fits.IMG_7853

The dial is in very good condition, but oddly enough, I can only find “Marinograf” watches by Accurist. So maybe this is a re-dial???IMG_7854

The cap of the crown has come off, and the thread on the pendant tube is damaged. I will have to replace the crown and pendant tube with a new screw-down crown.IMG_7895

The ETA 2452 is also in good condition. It’s been serviced  before, as there is a lot of lubricant around.IMG_7900

The gear train.IMG_7906

The bottom plate with date ring. This movement doesn’t have a quick-set date.IMG_7914

I start putting the movement back together after having cleaned the parts.IMG_7915

The base movement is back together and beating.IMG_7916

With a new mainspring, the movement has a very decent performance indeed.IMG_7917

The bottom plate ready for the dial.IMG_7918

I case the movement.IMG_7919

The hands got new luminous compound, and I also put a new luminous dot onto the bezel ring.IMG_7920

The crown is now a generic screw-down crown, which is a bit of a shame. I hope Accurist comes back to me with my query, and maybe an original crown?IMG_7921This is actually my first diver’s watch. I’ve tested it wet to 10 bars, and it holds up well, as all the gasket surfaces on the case didn’t have any pitting whatsoever.

If you have any information about this watch, I’d be very interested to hear about it!

17 thoughts on “Service: Accurist Marin Graf / ETA 2452

  1. I have a dive watch with exactly the same case, bezel and crown cap style. The brand name on mine is HOGA, on which there is precious little info. I’ve also seen one on the forums which was branded by Elgin, so it could be that these were generic cases companies used to market their own dive watches.

  2. Pingback: Best Dive Watches for Every Watch Lover’s Budget

  3. Hmm. The early Rolex “oyster” cases with a screw-down crown were based on Borgel designs from the turn of the century and – later – designs by Perregaux and Perret*. It looks like Hans Wilsdorf / Rolex acquired the Borgel and P&P patents in 1926, but Swiss Patents only last 20 years so I cant see this having much of an impact on Accutrist in the 1970s 😉

    • Absolutely right. What I don’t understand is that I can’t think of any watch brand using screw-down crowns until the early 90s – it’s the only construction that properly works if you want a waterproof watch for diving. There has to be a reason why nobody else used that construction. Oddly enough, I have googled this issue to no end in English and German, but I am only drawing blancs.

      • The Vostok Amphibia (1967- ) has a screw-down crown with an idiosyncratic wobbly stem to accompany its other idiosyncratic bits. Whether the Accurist story is true or myth, respecting western patents certainly wasn’t common in the USSR…

      • Hope not, screw down crowns on most divers since the 50’s and some before eg: Doxa, Seiko, Citizen, on and on………..

  4. I spent over an hour online today trying to find anything about Rolex bringing litigation over their crown design, and found nothing ….

    Actual story or not, though, that’s one great watch!

    Wear it in health!

    • Accurist came back to me saying that they couldn’t find the watch in any of their old catalogues – they had no knowledge about it. This might also have to do with the fact that the company has recently been taken over by Time Products UK Ltd.
      The seller of the watch promised to enquire with the watchmaker who told her the story about the Rolex litigation, and I’ll keep you posted about the outcome of that.

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