# Just Waiting For My 1950S Anker To Arrive



## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm quite interested in German watches, which occasionally get overlooked, and couldn't resist this nice looker which as an Uwersi Cal. 57/8 movement.



















I've been doing some research into the Uwersi Cal. 57/8 SCI/CLD movement. Here's a description of it from a website specialising in early German watch movements (translated by the writer into English from German):

The Uwersi 57/8 was available in different versions, with and without indirect driven center second and with or without date indication (which was advertized on the case back with using three patents, but consists in fact only of a gear and a spring). The movement described here contained everything. The flat nickel balance, without screw, long regulator arm and shock protection, regulates a conventional pin lever movement. However, there's one speciality with the pin anchor: The pins don't consist of metal, as usual, but of synthetic rubis. Technically, this is only a minor improvement, but it helps using two more advertizing-effective jewels. And these two are not the only additional jewels in this movement: All the gears are not only beared in jewels, but they all have cap jewels, too, even if there's a gap of a millimeter beween the two jewels. The second hand axle is even beared in two jewels, since it runs in the minute train, which is beared, and has got an additional jewel put losely on it. The only position, where a jewel bearing would have been really useful, at the spring, which keeps the indirect second hand gear in position, is of course un-jewelled... On the dial side, you see a familiar picture: A simple rocking bar winding mechanism, a very simple click spring mechanism with just a spring and the advertized calendar mechanism, which only advances slowly and cannot be corrected quickly. This mechanism of three patents consists only of one gear with a pin. It drives the small date disc with the tiny date numbers. These better pin-lever movements were quite popular in the early fifties, when nobody had enough money for a "good" watch, and last but not least, its unusual details make it a collecting-worth movement.

Fascinating stuff. And a pic from the site to go with it:


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## chris.ph (Dec 29, 2011)

Lovely looking watch will and a very informative article,cheers mate


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## Always"watching" (Sep 21, 2013)

Dear Will Fly

I think you know me well enough by now to realise that I absolutely love that German Anker watch. If I had any criticism of the style, it would be that the hands are perhaps a bit short, but that is a personal; preference concerning my liking for hands that go over the markers rather than stop short of them. I do like the red numbers in the date window and the watch seems to be in remarkably good condition. The movement sounds very interesting, especially in terms of its use of jewels. All in all a nice purchase. Thanks for showing it.


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## dobra (Aug 20, 2009)

Thanks Will - never heard of the watch before. The piccie of the movement makes the engineering look a bit hrmmm though.

Nice catch ( says he wandering off to sniff out German watches....)

Mike


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## Will Fly (Apr 10, 2012)

Oh, I think the movement is very unsophisticated. (The internal pics of the Uwersi calibre aren't from my movement, by the way - they're from the German article). What attracted me to the watch was the relative rareness of the movement and the rather elegant dial - plus the fact that (as I said) older German stuff tends to get overlooked. Whether it stays with me or not, only time will tell - pun intended!


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