I collect vintage Helvetia watches as they have some really interesting in-house movements and the calibre 800 is especially funky. This watch also has some interesting history as it was issued to the German army intelligence during WW2.
The dial is in very good condition.Dial removed and you can see dial side of the movement, note the early shock protection.The movement is very dirty but in excellent condition. I do not think it has been serviced before.The early Helvetia’s have a pretty funky shock protection system, but it’s rather tricky to remove the cap jewel for cleaning.Here I have just removed the pallet and the central second pinion.No doubt Helvetia liked to do things differently and that’s what I enjoy about these movements; here the ratchet wheel screws are screwed in from the underside of the barrel bridge.Movement has been cleaned and is ready to be put back together. I have seen movements that have a separate cock for the escape wheel, but Helvetia has a separate cock for the third wheel and a bridge for the escape wheel and forth wheel.Balance back in place and swinging freely.I fitted a new mainspring, but the movement started to bank so here you can see my second attempt fitting the old mainspring after being cleaned and oiled.Another feature you don’t see every day is the yoke spring sitting opposite of the yoke on the plate.The setting lever spring had a hairline crack in it and broke when being fitted. You can actually see the crack on the before photo.Luckily I have a donor movement that provides a good replacement.The movement is back together and ticking like it should. I would say the finish on the bridges are good whereas the base plate is a bit more simple. Even with the old mainspring the performance is excellent.Here you can see the movement back in the case looking good.I decided to leave the old luminous compound as it was very solid and removing it could damage the dial. I would usually replace old compound if it’s frail and falls of easily.The case is a fairly chunky 33mm for an early 1940’s watch!And for the military enthusiasts I have added a photo of the case back markings.
Hi, really interesting articles. I have a Helvetia watch as one of two inherited from my father. I am going to be servicing the watch in the near future. You have your timegrapher set 52 degrees for the lift angle. Do you know this is correct for the movement or was it a best guess position? Thanks, Ken
Hi I just bought a same DIH ,but I think my watch crown is not original,do you have original crown in stock? Thanks and regards!
Hallo,
Zijn deze horloges nog te koop en wat is normaliter de vraagprijs ?
Met vriendelijke groet.
Nan.
None of the watches on my blog are for sale – they all belong to my customers.
Hi,I have a similar watch same movement but with rosieres watch co on it.
If I send you some pic’s could you tell me a little about it?
Best try a watch forum.
Hello Mitka, I was wondering if you could tell me something about the watch that I have recently found. Its written Helvetia 3111 M (m is in the circle) on its back. Thank you in advance.
Hi Nikolai,
Sounds like the standard case number:)
Another interesting watch but how come you don’t post the high resolution pictures anymore?
Hi Daryl,
The photos are high resolution, but for some reason I had no link to the media file. Sorted now:)
On old watches I notice the movements are held in place by the flexible metal tabs that bend over and hold it in place. Why is this method not used anymore? Are screws more secure?
It works okay when the cases are not made my the movement maker. I think today they would use a plastic ring in the same way. Screw look better as it does not hide parts of the movement:)
Thanks. Very nice watch, lovely old dial and movement. I like to see the gold chatons round the jewels.
Nice. What does the “I” in DIH stand for? The army issue watches were always “DH” for Deutsches Heer.
There where several DH markings for different groups of the army like D XXXX was for the airforce personnel and DH is for standard army issue. My source of information comes from: A Concise Guide to Military Timepieces-1880-1990 by Z.M. Wesolowski. Where it is states that D.I.H.- Deutches Heer property mark found on non-waterproof wristwatches with sweeping centre seconds used for surveillance purposes.
Nice watch. Out of interest, what was the German intelligence service during WW2? The Gestapo?
No they where a surveillance agency connected with the army while the Gestapo where Government secret police. There is information on wikipedia about them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abwehr
Thanks, I’d never heard of them.
[dad joke]Would the WW2 connection make it a Heilvetia?[/dad joke]