Service: Sekonda Automatic calibre 2416

IMG_0777I don’t get Russian wrist watches too often, and there is a good reason for that. It’s the value of these watches that normally doesn’t make it economical to service such a watch. But if you like them, and you want to wear the watch you have, it doesn’t really matter.

This Sekonda stops intermittently, so it needs some attention. IMG_0783

No lack of jewels here – 29 in total, so all the auto winder is jewelled. Nice touch, and a clean design with the auto winder gears at the top, and the gear train at the bottom of the photo.IMG_0785

The click wheel has a ratchet in it to allow manual and auto winding. You can see the gears of the auto winder. There are also gears on the oscillating weight to allow winding in both directions.IMG_0781

And here they are. Mounted on a little seesaw, the two gears at the top and bottom engage with the first wheel of the auto winder gear train – one for each direction of rotation of the oscillating weight. A pretty complex and sturdy construction, and quite typical of Russian watches.IMG_0788

Now we can see the gear train. Under the oscillating weight pivot sits the central second pinion and arbor.IMG_0793

And here it is – slightly blurry photo I’m afraid.IMG_0800

The calendar works – I have already removed the plate that covers it, which also holds the pawl and pawl spring for the date wheel. No plastic, and a solid construction. The finishes of the parts aren’t Swiss, but that doesn’t matter. Reminds me of the Lada Niva I drove in the late 80s 😉 I was working as a teacher in a vocational training college in Cameroon, and needed a cheap 4×4. The Russian Lada Niva was just the ticket. A great off-roader, cheap, but solid. You just had to replace the timing chain and the U-joints of the drive shafts regularly.IMG_0808But back to the watch at hand. As you can see, no effort was spared making this one when it comes to the parts count.IMG_0833

I can’t get hold of a new mainspring, but the old one is still in good nick, and I put it back into the barrel. This is one of the few occasions I wear silicone gloves, as you don’t want to get skin flakes into the barrel.IMG_0836

The base movement is back together and beating.IMG_0838

Performance is a bit wavy, but that’s what I expect from this movement. It’s not an ETA, but is certainly has its charms.IMG_0840

The clutch is part of the “second” wheel, below the plate and between the upper small wheel and the minute wheel which is brass coloured. so the cannon pinion just has a loose fit as it doesn’t contain the clutch.IMG_0848

And we’re back in business. The dial is in very good condition, and so is the case.

 

7 thoughts on “Service: Sekonda Automatic calibre 2416

  1. Hello, I wanted to ask you for a little help if you would. I have a Poljot with this mechanism. I removed the plate that covers the calendar, and I don’t know how to put the pawl and the pawl spring back. Would you mind showing me a picture if you have one, with that plate with the spring and pawl mounted. Thank you

  2. Hi guys

    Thanks for the kind comments. I thought you might like a little more information about this watch.
    Whilst it’s badged as a Sekonda, it isn’t strictly correct to say that is has a Sekonda movement – as there isn’t really such a thing. From 1966 until the 90s, Sekonda was a brand in the United Kingdom which marketed Soviet-made timepieces. The movements in these came from a variety of the Soviet watch factories (including, but not limited to, First Moscow Watch Factory, Second Moscow Watch Factory, Petrodvorets Watch Factory, Chistopol Watch Factory). Some Sekondas were the same case/dial/movement combinations as found on the domestic (USSR) market, and others were produced to the UK company’s specifications.

    This particular watch contains a First Moscow Watch Factory (most frequently associated with the brand “Poljot”) 2416 movement.
    The 2416, known as the “Kosmos”, was designed and manufactured in-house, available from about 1963 to 1972. Early specimens had a pointer-date (think “Oris”), and date-wheel calendar versions soon followed. Some 2416s appear to have screw balances and others have smooth balances – I haven’t (yet) been able to find out why/when this changed.

    A notable detail of the 2416 is that the movement is said to be 3.9mm thick, including the (fullsize) rotor and autowind mechanism (which is integrated rather than being a module layered onto a “base” manual-wind calibre). Quite remarkable for the time, and the reason behind the unusual layout! As noted, it must have been a costly movement to produce, which may account for the comparitvely short-lived availability.

    Based on similar ones I’ve seen (with commemorative inscriptions), I’d guess this example dates from about 1971-1972. Brushed stainless cases in the sunburst pattern seen here seems less common than polished stainless (but perhaps they didn’t all begin life polished) or 20-micron Gold plate.

    The 2416, and its date-less sibiling 2415, the “Orbita” (Christian serviced one of these last year) were part of a series of ultra-thin movements which 1MWF developed. The unrelated manual-wind 2209 (2.9mm thick) is perhaps the most commonly seen of these, as it had a longer run in Russia from 1961 to 1975 (winning an award in Leipzig in 1963) before the tooling was moved to the Luch Factory in Minsk and production continued there until 1979. it’s possible Sekondas were still being cased up with stock movements, well into the years beyond.

    Probably the rarest of this group is the 2200, which at about 1.85mm was perhaps a shade (or shave?) too far…LOL

    (Credit where it’s due – I’ve collected this information, which is only the tip of the iceberg, from a variety of sources including Seele and Chascomm’s posts on WUS, and Andrew Babanin, Roland Ranfft, and Phil Thommen(?)’s respective websites).

  3. A very nice watch, clean face with good batons and date numerals. The value of some watches are in the – “where i got it and who bought it for me” – area, so very personal.

    Is the unusual winder gear train a feature of Russian watches ?

    Having such a careful well documented clean up, has added to the personal value.
    I have a couple of Sekonda movement that came with some spares I bought …… the idea was to strip and re-build but as yet I have not had the nerve to work on them, (let alone have a go at the non working Tissot movements that sit in a box) I think that if I do have a go… it would end up as a packet of spare parts in the post to you !
    Regards
    Roj

    • There are other movements with this sort of construction for the auto winder, e.g. some Roamers, FB, Buren, …
      The Russians seem particularly fond of this construction, and it’s a good one, albeit expensive.

    • I totally agree – my Russian alarm watch isnt worth servicing just on cost value, but I am not going to just throw away a watch just because it is broken. Cost and value are different things 😉

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