# Ruhla Aus D D R.



## Stan

A recent post about Kienzle being a German brand lead me to try to find out a bit about watch manufacture in the DDR.

I have an old Ruhla watch made in the DDR, sadly it no longer runs. Ruhla will be most "famous" for its watches that contained the M24 pin pallet movement, this movement having been produced on a fully automated production line it seems.

Ruhla did make better quality jeveled movements prior to the M24, but the watches containing the M24 brought in much needed western cash I suppose.

This is one of the few links I've found that gives any information about Ruhla. Maybe a German member/ visitor could give us some more insight into this interesting company?

http://www.garde.de/english/history/body_history.shtml


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## pg tips

120 million of them made @25,000 a day at peak production!









Great link Stan good fishing.

Someone mentione Saxon before I have one of those with a cheap pin pallet movement, will have to dig it out.


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## Stan

Cheers PG.









Saxon was a rebadged Ruhla AFAIK.

This was the DDR's answer to Timex and Ingersoll, I guess.


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## pg tips

really crappy snap (it's late) movement has 279 stamped on it.


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## Stan

Nice one PG,

I pinched this picture of a Ruhla/ UMF M24 movement from Christoph Lorenz, looks similar to me.

http://www.christophlorenz.de/watch/moveme...umf_24.php?l=en

It's very tough to find info on this brand. If all else fails, I'll mail the German Embassy and see if they can supply some.

Don't think I'm kidding.


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## Mrcrowley

Stan said:


> A recent post about Kienzle being a German brand lead me to try to find out a bit about watch manufacture in the DDR.
> 
> I have an old Ruhla watch made in the DDR, sadly it no longer runs. Ruhla will be most "famous" for its watches that contained the M24 pin pallet movement, this movement having been produced on a fully automated production line it seems.
> 
> Ruhla did make better quality jeveled movements prior to the M24, but the watches containing the M24 brought in much needed western cash I suppose.
> 
> This is one of the few links I've found that gives any information about Ruhla. Maybe a German member/ visitor could give us some more insight into this interesting company?
> 
> http://www.garde.de/english/history/body_history.shtml


 I got a Rhula somewhere. They good then?


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## Stan

Most people would say that they are "crap" Paul.

But not people like PG and I.
















I would call Ruhla watches "significant" because the sold a lot, made their company money and got DDR citizens to work on time.

When most have been thrown away the rest will be collectors items.


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## Stan

Just found this, sadly it only runs for a short while.


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## LuisG

Hi!

This is my fisrt post here  Please excuse my english; I'm from Argentina.

I found this site looking for info about ruhla watches, because I own two of them. I was very surprise to see that their mouvements were pictured on the net!!!

I took photos of mine; they aren't very good:




























(In fact, the one with the cat is my sister's  )

The eyes of the cat are attached to the "Ã¡ncora" (I don't know the name in english... "lever", maybe? It's the little piece that's like an anchor), so they move from left to right and left again... very funny.

They run very well; the black one doesn't run in time: it runs a bit slow (how do you say it in english?). The one with the cat isn't running because it's "corona" (Don't know its name... it's the wheel you use to wind and to move the hands manually... well you can see in the photos that it isn't there  ). But some days ago I put black's corona into red's, winded it and it ran very well. I am looking for one corona here in Argentina.

I disassembled both to clean (and, above all, to look at them, hehehe), and reassembled them. I was surprise when I noticed how easy was to fit all wheels... don't know how to say... did you see that when you assemble a watch, you have to put the minute wheel, then the middle, and then the second, fitting the axes inside their holes? Well... with these ruhlas they almost seemed to fit "themselves"... don't know how to say.


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## rhaythorne

Welcome to the forum LuisG. I love that "cat" watch









Well done getting it to work again!


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## jasonm

Welcome to the Forum Luis









Hope you get to post often...


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## mach 0.0013137

welcome to the Forum Luis your English is 100% better then my Spanish









Interesting Ruhlas BTW especially the cat one


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## Stan

Welcome to the forum Luis, nice to see your Ruhlas.









I'm going to find a working one soon, I've decided.


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## Mrcrowley

I'll have to go find mine I think..............


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## pg tips

welcome Luis, yes there are a lot of cheap solid watch lovers in the UK.

btw translations are Anchor and Crown.

My Spanish is non existant, one of those things I never took to lauguages.


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## LuisG

Thanks for your replies!!!! Now I am very happy with my little ruhlas, hehe... I used to think about them as "not-so-good" watches... 

And thanks for the translations, pg! I love to know new words about watches.

BTW, anyone knows about a good manual/book about clocks and watches for download? All I'm learning is from disassembling my own old watches... but would love to learn some more.


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## DavidH

Hi Luis

Read this and you will be an expert.

http://www.thewatchguy.homestead.com/repair~ns4.html

If you can get an old pocket watch movement to practice on it could help AS THEY ARE A BIT BIGGER.


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## Mrcrowley

pg tips said:


> welcome Luis, yes there are a lot of cheap solid watch lovers in the UK.
> 
> btw translations are Anchor and Crown.
> 
> My Spanish is non existant, one of those things I never took to lauguages.
> 
> 
> 
> ←
> ​


Who's a crown & anchor?


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## mach 0.0013137

Mrcrowley said:


> Who's a crown & anchor?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ←
> ​


Paul you`ve got a filhty mind









Sounds like a pub







do they serve real ale?


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## Stan

Potz,

That is very useful information, thank you.









There is little documentation relating to the industry of the former DDR, there is some useful information relating to Carl Zeiss Jena but not enough to satisfy me.









In terms of innovation and production capability the former DDR must rank as the most competent in the, then, Soviet block. IMHO.

It is good that the best of industry in eastern Germany has survived because it has the competitive edge to provide what the consumer wants. I believe that Jena is now Germany's "Silicon Valley"?

What impressed me about the DDR was that skilled people never lost sight of their heritage under the regime they had to serve. There were people who were driven to achieve a goal, even if it was to produce pin pallet movements. They did so very efficiently and in a comparable degree of efficiency to "western" enterprises.

For my part, I think that Germany should be proud of how the DDR performed under communist rule.









At least from the point of industrial innovation and maintaining that industrial tradition under untenable restrictions.

I doubt the environment in eastern Germany was well cared for then.


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## Stan

Potz,

I think it's a matter of attitude.









I can say that from my perspective that those who kept their integrity under the rule of the DDR should be respected, not shunned.

That is, of course, the perspective of an Englishman.

I doubt that we are as respected for our tenacity to maintain our industrial heritage as those of the former DDR, we had some "help" in that failing.









We call it industrial betrayal in England.









A cross we will bear for many years.


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## mach 0.0013137

Off watches but in keeping with the merits of DDR production especially Carl Zeiss Jena.

I`ve mentioned previously that I have a collection of cameras including some East German ones.

I few years ago I was cataloging my collection, taking photos of each camera.

I used different cameras to see how they compared, I tried to make sure the parameters were the same for each shot, lighting, subject position including the tripod which was not moved, also the film type, aperature and shutter speed remined the same.

Anyway on one occasion I took a shot of a particular camera with a Leicaflex SL/ Summicron-R F2/50 followed by (the film having run out) one with an East German Contax FM/CZJ,Tessar F2.8/50mm ( BTW the first 35mm SLR with a fixed pentaprism).

When the film`s were processed no one, including various photography nuts could tell the difference between the shots.

OK this was at standard enprint size, but still its impressive IMO


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## Stan

Hi Potz,

My command of the German language is negligible, I've always been poor at linguistics much to my frustration. But, thanks for the book information. I will check to see if it's available in an English translation later, I'm eager to read it if it is.









Mac,

I still have five or six Praktica B series SLR bodies and a few nice lenses, including an 80mm F1.8 Pancolor and a 55mm F2.8 Zeiss Jena macro lens.

The standard 50mm F1.8 Prakticar was a very capable lens also, made in the old Meyer factory, I think.

I think my favorite is a Praktica BCX with a 50mm F1.4 Pancolor that is in mint condition and has a very responsive Gallium Arsenide photo sensor.

I'd better shut up or I will get a little bit carried away and show how anal I truly am.


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