# A Small Rotary Story



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

A fellow Dutch electronic watch enthusiast sent me a Rotary to repair back in June. At the time, I told him I didn't have the relevant spares for movement that was in his Rotary...."_no matter_", he said, "_just keep it until you do have the spares_". 

To be honest, I'm not too keen on this type of arrangement, but I said "_OK_" and started to keep my eyes open on eBay and mailed a few colleagues...one of whom did come up with the goods a few days ago and mailed me a working ESA 9150 donor movement. 

Nothing unusual about that...the spare parts got the Rotary going and a couple of pictures are posted below. Lovely Rotary IMO...not sure about the significance of the GT logo...but it looks good! :thumbsup: Shame its not mine.

The unusual part to this small story concerns the dial that was on this donor movement! It shows the ESA logo below the 12 and the word "Dynotron" above the 6. ESA only ever put their logos on dials for demonstration watches i.e. they developed a new movement and then demo it to the world. The ESA 9150 Dynotron was their first electronic movement and it first appeared in limited numbers in 1967 --- so this donor movement and dial must date from then. Its a shame its a little scratched in places but still an interesting piece of electronic watch history.


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Well donr Paul...Another one saved 

The 'GT' must have been a range of theirs at the time, I used to have this GT Monza....










Whats the caseback like? This one had 2 large crossed flags and looked great....


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

jasonm said:


> Well donr Paul...Another one saved
> 
> The 'GT' must have been a range of theirs at the time, I used to have this GT Monza....
> 
> ...


That looks good Jason....shouldn't have sold that one. The back on this Rotary is boring...no interesting markings at all.


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

I know Paul,  it was a bit on the small side for me , it stayed with a forum member though.....


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## Stuart Davies (Jan 13, 2008)

So if I've got this right does this mean you'll be handing this rare (?) donor movement onto a customer Paul? Not tempted to keep it for the collection then? Cheers S


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Stuart Davies said:


> So if I've got this right does this mean you'll be handing this rare (?) donor movement onto a customer Paul? Not tempted to keep it for the collection then? Cheers S


Almost right Stuart....the movement isn't particular rare but the dial with those markings is. The dial stays with me; the movement was used to fix the Rotary.


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## Robert (Jul 26, 2006)

Nice story and a nice watch too.

What does the Lic.ATO and UC.ATO mean at the bottom of each dial?


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Robert said:


> What does the Lic.ATO and UC.ATO mean at the bottom of each dial?


The system whereby two stationary coils, permanent magnets on a balance and an opening / closing transistor work together to impulse a watch balance was first invented and patented by Etablissements Leon Hatot (ATO) in 1953 in France. The patent is used in millions of watches...sometimes acknowledged on the dial, as here, and sometime on the movement plates.


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## seemore (Oct 25, 2007)

Intresting i have the same Rotary only in black with silver hands still working any idea how old these are?


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## PhilM (Nov 5, 2004)

Another great thread Paul, the hands match the dial so well especially with the hour markers


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

seemore said:


> Intresting i have the same Rotary only in black with silver hands still working any idea how old these are?


Late 1960's


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