# Historic Bucherer Quartz. First Generation Beta21



## KEITHT (Dec 2, 2007)

Posted some info on this a while back...but in truth topic title was a bit vague, so many may have missed it....

Bucherer Quartz...not any quartz mind you, but a Beta 21, the worlds first quartz production watch ( please no attempts by seiko fans to argue the case ) introduced at the Basel fair in 1970...this one dates from March 70..so a first generation movement from only 6000 peices (in total ) produced.



















By a 36mm Omega f300 for size comparison.



















Bucherer ( as i have learned recently ) were one of the original 10 that signed up CEH..the umbrella company set up to mass produce a quartz wristwatch movement ...eventually there would be 21 members, although many did not produce actual models...and some,.., like Rolex and Longines set off to develop their own..quite soon after the goal ( Base Cal Beta 21 ) had been achieved

This massive and very rare peice has been sat in my box for a few months awaiting parts....recently i managed to aquire a donor watch and have now rebuilt the movement with the correct series 1 parts.....currently i am tweaking her to get within or at least close to the original specs of -/+ 0.1spd.

Down to + 1.5spd taking into account ambient temp...and still have some of the 4sec adjustment left in my favour...i may not be able to get her spot on...but anything under a second would be good i feel.....otherwise its a complete strip down again and possible readjustment of the indexing....a distinctly trial and error affair..... 

Will be continuing to test over the next few days....so will keep you all posted....


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## SEIKO7A38 (Feb 12, 2009)

KEITHT said:


> .... the worlds first quartz production watch ( please no attempts by seiko fans to argue the case ) ....


Who ? Me ??? :rltb:


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## Who. Me? (Jan 12, 2007)

Well done Keith. Did you know what you had when you bought it, or was it luck?


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## KEITHT (Dec 2, 2007)

Who. Me? said:


> Well done Keith. Did you know what you had when you bought it, or was it luck?


Yep knew what it was.....only because seller had a pic of the movement though.....i didn't even know that Bucherer were part of CEH until i got this..

Its taken me over 3 months to source a decent ( although not to cheap ) donor watch.....

Ok..so an Omega Electroquartz was sacrificed....but a worthwhile cause i think.....plus the Omega's are the most common of all the Beta21 powered peices.

Normally the movements are marked with the either CEH B-21 and/or CEH Beta 21 and also manufacturers own designation ie....Omega's Cal 1300..Rolex Cal 5100 . ( as per pic below )

This one has no such markings...only *Bucherer Credos, Swiss* and the battery type *WH 3*.

The outside of the case back is marked *Electronic with Quartz Beta 21*....and the inside with the date stamp 03-70.

A whole month before the launch...... :shock:

Plus reviewing the rather limited Omega service manual i have....Omega deemed these movements beyond there dealers on site repairers...and only supplied info that allowed changing of the cell, and adjusting the rate....

The original movements were designed to run on 1.35 mercury batteries..so i am unsure as to whether i will actually be able to meet the original specs...

I have a few mercury 323 cells still in packs...and although not the right battery..i should be able to fit it sercurely enough to test my theory..

Now all i need is my IWC Cal 2001 back for a pair...  one of less than 600 Beta21 watches produced by the company...this figure split between 2 models..the* Da Vinci* and the *International.*..and 3 ( maybe 4 ) case materials....



















K


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## ketiljo (Apr 22, 2009)

Nice looking. And huge! Good work.

I guess these movements doesn't have the stepper motor common to quartz movement. How does it work? Does the second hand move in 1s steps?


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## mjolnir (Jan 3, 2006)

So this is an example of a watch with the very first quartz movement in it? That's pretty amazing really. Looks like a big one, especially for the time. Is it about 42mm?

It's also impressive that for a watch that's nine years older than me it looks to be in far better condition.


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## KEITHT (Dec 2, 2007)

Ketil Johansen said:


> Nice looking. And huge! Good work.
> 
> I guess these movements doesn't have the stepper motor common to quartz movement. How does it work? Does the second hand move in 1s steps?


Second hand is a smooth sweep and it has more in common with the tuning fork watch really, than the modern day quartz. the drive system being much the same.

The GP Cal 350 series is more the grandfather of quartz as we know it......although the Beta 21 will always hold the honour of the first production quartz watch.

K


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## KEITHT (Dec 2, 2007)

mjolnir said:


> So this is an example of a watch with the very first quartz movement in it? That's pretty amazing really. Looks like a big one, especially for the time. Is it about 42mm?
> 
> It's also impressive that for a watch that's nine years older than me it looks to be in far better condition.


Tis...yes....

Much bigger than 42mm...it measures ( approx )* 48mm ex crown x 52mm x 18mm deep with 22mm lugs*.....huge even by towards ever increasing sizes.

It is is fine condition...i can't comment as to whether its faired better than you.....( but by all accounts......_probably._... :lol: )


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## minkle (Mar 17, 2008)

Well worth the hard work Keith, i cant believe how big it is, in the first couple of pics i was thinking 38mm and then i saw the next couple..what a *beast!*


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## KEITHT (Dec 2, 2007)

+0.68 spd with still some romm for improvement.

Not bad for the old girl...considering she was rebuilt on my dining room table with used donor parts.....

K


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## minkle (Mar 17, 2008)

I hope this one is a keeper Keith..


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## martinus_scriblerus (Sep 29, 2008)

KEITHT said:


> Now all i need is my IWC Cal 2001 back for a pair...  one of less than 600 Beta21 watches produced by the company...this figure split between 2 models..the* Da Vinci* and the *International.*..and 3 ( maybe 4 ) case materials....


Didn't one of the IWC ones sell on ebay in the last week or so? I remember casually watching the auction - ultimately I think the watch sold for $600- $700 or so. I can't say I paid the greatest amount of attention, but I recall the watch looking much like the one in the picture.


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## KEITHT (Dec 2, 2007)

martinus_scriblerus said:


> KEITHT said:
> 
> 
> > Now all i need is my IWC Cal 2001 back for a pair...  one of less than 600 Beta21 watches produced by the company...this figure split between 2 models..the* Da Vinci* and the *International.*..and 3 ( maybe 4 ) case materials....
> ...


There was a white gold Davinci version on Ebay the other week for approx 4000euro..but didnt see the one you refer too...if it did indeed sell for $600-700, then IMO, that was an absolute bargain. Wish i had seen it...would have snapped that up as well....

I certainly wouldn't let mine go for that paltry sum..add an extra nought maybe.. 

Problem is, nobody knows of them......stick a Rolex Oysterquartz or PP Goldenshadow up...and they make 5 figure sums.....why? same movement and made in greater numbers...well certainly in the case of the Rolex anyway.....

K


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## Stuart Davies (Jan 13, 2008)

Very interesting post and watch Keith and look forward to seeing it in the steel...

Go on then lets see the wrist shot...


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## Agent orange (Feb 11, 2006)

What an absolutely fantastic piece, probably far too big for my spindly wrists but who cares  .

As for the prices that the Rolex Oysterquartz or PP Goldenshadow make, I'm with you 100%. Always makes me laugh what people will pay for the name, especially when there are far rarer and more interesting watches out there fetching a fraction of the price. More fool them is all I can say.

Cheers,

Gary


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