# Kienzle



## Guest

picked this up in devon and quite impressed with it, the time keeping is excellent and the watch has had little use, i changed the original strap as it had gone all crunchy and horrible and beyond help, the watch is 17 jewel and has an Eta 2*** manual wind movement [ should have noted the movement numbers when the case back was off







] unmarked champaign dial, unmarked stainless case and crystal, original box and purchase receipt from Barnstaple Devon dated 1969

scuse pics.......................B


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## Gpts

That's really nice. How big is it?


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## Guest

Gpts said:


> That's really nice. How big is it?


its 36mm including the crown, but seems bigger somehow


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## Rotundus

nice that !


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## johnbaz

Hi

I have one that says 'Made in Germany' at the bottom of the dial :thumbsup:



HAGWE

John :smile:


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## Guest

johnbaz said:


> Hi
> 
> I have one that says 'Made in Germany' at the bottom of the dial :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> HAGWE
> 
> John :smile:


mine is swiss, i assume kienzel maybe changed hands a few times


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## scottswatches

please think about me if you ever want to flip that, it's lovely


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## Guest

scottswatches said:


> please think about me if you ever want to flip that, it's lovely


no problem scott


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## Mutley

Bruce said:


> johnbaz said:
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> 
> 
> Hi
> 
> I have one that says 'Made in Germany' at the bottom of the dial :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> HAGWE
> 
> John :smile:
> 
> 
> 
> mine is swiss, i assume kienzel maybe changed hands a few times
Click to expand...

I seem to recall that most Kienzle watches were made in Germany but they also did a "higher end" (if I can use that term) range of watches which were branded "Kienzle Swiss"


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## johnbaz

Mutley said:


> Bruce said:
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> 
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> johnbaz said:
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> 
> 
> Hi
> 
> I have one that says 'Made in Germany' at the bottom of the dial :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> HAGWE
> 
> John :smile:
> 
> 
> 
> mine is swiss, i assume kienzel maybe changed hands a few times
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I seem to recall that most Kienzle watches were made in Germany but they also did a "higher end" (if I can use that term) range of watches which were branded "Kienzle Swiss"
Click to expand...

I recall German Kienzle alarm clocks too that were low quality!! :wacko:

John :smile:


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## Guest

johnbaz said:


> Mutley said:
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> Bruce said:
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> johnbaz said:
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> 
> 
> Hi
> 
> I have one that says 'Made in Germany' at the bottom of the dial :thumbsup:
> 
> 
> 
> HAGWE
> 
> John :smile:
> 
> 
> 
> mine is swiss, i assume kienzel maybe changed hands a few times
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I seem to recall that most Kienzle watches were made in Germany but they also did a "higher end" (if I can use that term) range of watches which were branded "Kienzle Swiss"
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I recall German Kienzle alarm clocks too that were low quality!! :wacko:
> 
> John :smile:
Click to expand...

i had a new kienzel pilot and it was a cracking watch, sapphire crystal good quality swiss movement, i gave it a friend who is a builder and he wears it every day, its been beaten bashed banged dropped and lots more and still going strong after 3 years+, he says its the best watch he has ever had


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## Mutley

Picked up this "Kienzle Swiss" (Valjoux 7733) for a good price (thanks to sellers [email protected] photos) from ebay some years back.

















Cheers

Andrew


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## Guest

Mutley said:


> Picked up this "Kienzle Swiss" (Valjoux 7733) for a good price (thanks to sellers [email protected] photos) from ebay some years back.
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> Cheers
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> Andrew


thats very nice


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## harryblakes7

I do like the Kienzle watches, have collected a few, i used to calibrate the Kienzle speedometers which got me interested in the brand in the first place.......

I'm actually moving to Devon........ so i might get some more if there are any left down there


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## Guest

harryblakes7 said:


> I do like the Kienzle watches, have collected a few, i used to calibrate the Kienzle speedometers which got me interested in the brand in the first place.......
> 
> I'm actually moving to Devon........ so i might get some more if there are any left down there


Devon...the watch collectors paradise....................huge pensioner population :biggrin:


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## Mutley

Bruce said:


> Mutley said:
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> 
> 
> Picked up this "Kienzle Swiss" (Valjoux 7733) for a good price (thanks to sellers [email protected] photos) from ebay some years back.
> 
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> Cheers
> 
> Andrew
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> thats very nice
Click to expand...

Thanks Bruce, as shown by the photos you and johnbaz have posted they used to make great watches. :yes:


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## harryblakes7

Bruce said:


> harryblakes7 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I do like the Kienzle watches, have collected a few, i used to calibrate the Kienzle speedometers which got me interested in the brand in the first place.......
> 
> I'm actually moving to Devon........ so i might get some more if there are any left down there
> 
> 
> 
> Devon...the watch collectors paradise....................huge pensioner population :biggrin:
Click to expand...

I'm not old yet........... i say, "i'm not old yet!!"

No need to shout at me......... i'm wearing me spectacles.......... :biggrin: :to_become_senile:


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## Guest

around Barnstaple North devon in the summer there are bootfairs on nearly every day of the week, they are everywhere...........rich pickings :yes:


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## harryblakes7

Ah sounds good, am moving near Bridgwater, it's also near the BHI Somerset centre which am looking forward too...........

will look at mapbook......................

Ah........about an hour away.............. halfway meet for a pint?? :biggrin: :drinks:


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## Guest

harryblakes7 said:


> Ah sounds good, am moving near Bridgwater, it's also near the BHI Somerset centre which am looking forward too...........
> 
> will look at mapbook......................
> 
> Ah........about an hour away.............. halfway meet for a pint?? :biggrin: :drinks:


love to next year when i am back down, i am in southern scotland, only go to devon once a year for my wife to see her dragon.........SORRY Mother


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## harryblakes7

Sounds like a plan! 

Your going to need an excuse to escape for a couple of hours anyway.............. :laugh:


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## Guest

harryblakes7 said:


> Sounds like a plan!
> 
> Your going to need an excuse to escape for a couple of hours anyway.............. :laugh:


trust me...no excuses needed, i have a route planned every year for all the charity shops, antique shops, bootfairs and auctions, i have a very busy 2 to 3 weeks, i always come home with loads of horological goodness :yes:


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## Paul Audemars

For a _very_ short time in the 1970s I was "head-hunted" by Junghans Uhren in Schramberg in the Black Forest. Kienzle were one of our chief competitors. I was export manager for their unbranded "OEM" division.

Both companies were primarily clockmakers and this was the beginning of the quartz revolution. They made huge quantities of quartz clock movements which were used in their own branded clocks - mostly cheap plastic, with and without alarms. Even during the couple of years I was there I watched the size of the movements decrease although they weren't as small as the stuff that comes out of China today.

Junghans also made watches as did Kienzle, both branded and with other "makers'" names on. I wasn't aware of (or can't remember, which is more likely) the Kienzle "Swiss" range although it doesn't surprise me. After all the border was only down the road and it would have been a natural progression to make an up-market range alongside their dread and butter collections.

Junghans should have done the same. But they took a diametrically opposite view and I was tasked with going to Switzerland to sell German quartz watch movements (quite thick and clunky at the time). My ancestors must have been spinning like turbines - probably still are. I wasn't very successful. Sold a lot of clock movements though - mainly to the UK.

Paul

www.audemars.co.uk


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## scottswatches

Paul would you like to sell the Swiss some cheese and chocolate too? Talk about picking a tough market to sell into!


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## Guest

Paul Audemars said:


> For a _very_ short time in the 1970s I was "head-hunted" by Junghans Uhren in Schramberg in the Black Forest. Kienzle were one of our chief competitors. I was export manager for their unbranded "OEM" division.
> 
> Both companies were primarily clockmakers and this was the beginning of the quartz revolution. They made huge quantities of quartz clock movements which were used in their own branded clocks - mostly cheap plastic, with and without alarms. Even during the couple of years I was there I watched the size of the movements decrease although they weren't as small as the stuff that comes out of China today.
> 
> Junghans also made watches as did Kienzle, both branded and with other "makers'" names on. I wasn't aware of (or can't remember, which is more likely) the Kienzle "Swiss" range although it doesn't surprise me. After all the border was only down the road and it would have been a natural progression to make an up-market range alongside their dread and butter collections.
> 
> Junghans should have done the same. But they took a diametrically opposite view and I was tasked with going to Switzerland to sell German quartz watch movements (quite thick and clunky at the time). My ancestors must have been spinning like turbines - probably still are. I wasn't very successful. Sold a lot of clock movements though - mainly to the UK.
> 
> Paul
> 
> www.audemars.co.uk


What an incredible family history you have Paul :thumbsup:


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## harryblakes7

Brilliant Paul, thanks for the info......

Some of the Junghans watches were nice too......... i have some of the 70's mega solar watches, radio controlled......... still look great today!


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## Davey P

Not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I've got a couple of modern quartz Kienzle watches (both acquired on here, but can't remember who from - Sorry!) and I think they're really nice quality pieces.



















:thumbsup:


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## Guest

Davey P said:


> Not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I've got a couple of modern quartz Kienzle watches (both acquired on here, but can't remember who from - Sorry!) and I think they're really nice quality pieces.
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that top one is the same as i gave to my builder mate, seems indestructible


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## Paul Audemars

> Talk about picking a tough market to sell into!


The seventies were a very bad time in this country (and it's a great pity more people can't remember what it was like).

The UK economy was a joke and German salaries were more than three times what was paid in the UK for similar work. I went from a UK salary of £5000pa to £15,000 with summer and Christmas bonuses. - so I darned well did what I was told.

Nevertheless I split after about two years and, much to the family's disgust, moved us all back to Somerset and re-joined the Clark group.

Bruce wrote:

*What an incredible family history you have Paul* :thumbsup:

- well we've all got one, Luckily ours is reasonably well documented though I seem to be the only one left in either country who is interested. I am the last of the English family to speak the language and to be able to read the archive.

P

www.audemars.co.uk


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## Davey P

Bruce said:


> Davey P said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I've got a couple of modern quartz Kienzle watches (both acquired on here, but can't remember who from - Sorry!) and I think they're really nice quality pieces.
> 
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> *that top one is the same as i gave to my builder mate, seems indestructible *
Click to expand...

I've got the original bracelet for that one somewhere, so if your mate can use it I'd be happy to send it to you free of charge mate. Only one slight problem, I moved house a couple of months ago, so it might take me a while to find it, but the offer is there if he wants it. Send me a PM if you're interested.


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## Guest

Davey P said:


> Bruce said:
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> 
> 
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> 
> Davey P said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I've got a couple of modern quartz Kienzle watches (both acquired on here, but can't remember who from - Sorry!) and I think they're really nice quality pieces.
> 
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> *that top one is the same as i gave to my builder mate, seems indestructible *
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I've got the original bracelet for that one somewhere, so if your mate can use it I'd be happy to send it to you free of charge mate. Only one slight problem, I moved house a couple of months ago, so it might take me a while to find it, but the offer is there if he wants it. Send me a PM if you're interested.
Click to expand...

that really generous Davey, but he will only use leather and goes through 2 or 3 straps a year, but thanks for the offer though :thumbsup:


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## Davey P

No problem mate :thumbsup:


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## Rotundus

dread and butter - :biggrin:


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## Guest

Rotundus said:


> dread and butter - :biggrin:


i am really confused :wacko:


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## Paul Audemars

> dread and butter - :biggrin:


I wish I'd thought of it - unfortunately it really was a spelling mistake

P


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## johnbaz

Davey P said:


> Not sure how relevant this is to the topic, but I've got a couple of modern quartz Kienzle watches (both acquired on here, but can't remember who from - Sorry!) and I think they're really nice quality pieces.
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They are both nice but the top one is devilish handsome!!

John :thumbsup:


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## Davey P

Cheers John, to be honest I don't think the photos do it justice either, it looks better in the flesh :thumbsup:


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## Guest

Davey P said:


> Cheers John, to be honest I don't think the photos do it justice either, it looks better in the flesh :thumbsup:


agreed, the dial must be one of the clearest i have seen and a very nice quality gilt swiss movement, kind of wish i had kept mine :sadwalk:


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## tbyul

Yesterday got my first Kienzel and love it. It contains an interesting movement I have never seen before:


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## swisstime

This year Kienzle would have become 200 years old ( founded 1822 ). Unfortunately the company doesn't exist any more.


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## tbyul

I have not yet started to look on movement identification. Well just did
http://www.ranfft.de/cgi-bin/bidfun-db.cgi?10&ranfft&&2uswk&Kienzle_048_15
From the sixtees


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## tbyul

swisstime said:


> This year Kienzle would have become 200 years old ( founded 1822 ). Unfortunately the company doesn't exist any more.


 Yes and they have done so many calibers. Was looking on ranfft.de and so many of them. I find weird only one entry in the Kienzle owner's club.
@swisstimewhat if we resurrect this club with some entries?


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## swisstime

tbyul said:


> Yes and they have done so many calibers. Was looking on ranfft.de and so many of them. I find weird only one entry in the Kienzle owner's club.
> @swisstimewhat if we resurrect this club with some entries?


 Thank you @tybul, I'll think it over. I have a Kienzle wrist watch with a 25 ruubins automatic movement, that I bought years ago on ebay. Some weeks ago, I saw a photo of a dashboard of an OPEL Kapitän 1959 with a Kienzle clock at the dashboard. In Germany Kienzle was nearly so well-known as Junghans.


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