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From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

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Wizard

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From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post05 Dec 2012, 14:41

After five days of anxious waiting, this morning, at 11 'o clock, I heard the doorbell ringing.

It's the mailman.

"Hello, there's a package to sign!"

The excitement for the arrival of my new little baby makes me euphoric.

"Ok, I'm coming!"

I went down, picked up the package -perhaps one of the smallest ones I've ever seen after the one of the Pulsar P2- and I go back at home with the same excitement that has a child in when unboxes his Christmas gift.

But first, there is a ritual to follow, the "Unboxing."

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I use my trusted scissors, and gently start to open the small package, which contains the small Accurist I have "adopted." The little creature is ticking, wrapped in several layers of wrapping paper, and after cutting the tape wrapped around the box of an old pair of eyeglasses, which contains the watch, here's the creature, wrapped in paper.

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"Well, surely the packaging was well made!"
I said to myself.

And now comes the fun part. Slowly and with almost surgical precision, I've cut the tape that wraps the watch, that gets uncovered in front of me.

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The creature that I have adopted is here. And is happy to be in a new home, adopted by a person who can finally give him the love he deserves. He ticks loud, "Tick tick tick tick tick tick", proving its vitality, and how much he wants to do his duty. To make it adapt to the new environment, I wound the crown 20-25 times, and then I've shaken it for a minute.
I set the time and date, I proceeded to clean his steel body, his leather "dress", (a very old one, that will be replaced soon), I perfumed and disinfected the strap, and now is ready to be put on the wrist. His heart pounds fast, and I can feel the rotation of its rotor, spinning with a cheerful crickety sound when I move my wrist. Inside this Accurist beats a Swiss heart: an 21 jewels ETA 2780.

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I also reduced the scratches on his glass with an old granny's remedy: a bit of toothpaste smeared on the acrylic glass, then I put some water in order to make it wet, and I've repolished the glass with a soft cloth. Now it's perfect. I have it on my wrist right now, and it's extremely accurate. We'll see if it'll keep its accuracy the whole day. At the moment, the only things that the watchmaker will have to do will be a replacement of the strap, and a realignment of the O-ring with minute scale, which as you can see in the pictures, hasn't been mounted straight.

I love it! :D
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abem

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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post05 Dec 2012, 20:30

Neat.

I like the combination of square hands with the circular markers and face.

Is it possible that this watch was manufactured by Rado? It looks a lot like a Rado Starliner:
http://www.timetrafficker.com/watches/a ... index.html

Is this just a cosmetic resemblence or does it go deeper? The movement inside the Starliner is the A Schild 1789 rather than the ETA 2780, but they look vaguely similar also. A Schild was one of the founders of ESA, which became ETA SA, so they might share a common heritage.

It sometimes seems as though the Swiss watchmaking industry was an incestuous as Tennessee Hillbillies.

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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post05 Dec 2012, 21:06

Very interesting comparison, Abe! Indeed the shape of the markers is identical, Perhaps there was an involvement of Rado in the production of this model. I do not know for sure the exact year of production of this model. But judging from what I've seen on Dr.Ranfft's website, the ETA 2780 movement was made from 1968 to 1970, so I think it might have been made around 1971/72. I wouldn't exclude that the Accurist designers got inspired by the Diastar for the shape of the markers and the hands, which combined with the silver dial, makes it a very cool watch, especially with a black leather strap. 8-)

I wonder if the experts can help us, to find out more about this Accurist model.
I'm keeping it on my wrist since this morning, it's keeping great time. :-D
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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post07 Dec 2012, 00:21

thats a nice one, maybe you have to try it with a black leather band to get a better focus on the watch itself. Good purchase :-D
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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post07 Dec 2012, 10:55

Thank you Kasper! And yup, that's what I've planned to do. A black strap is a must for such a watch, to emphasize the black markers on the dial and the hands. ;-)

I also need to take it to a watchmaker, because you can see that the applied ring with the minutes scale isn't straight, but it's a bit rotated to the right, so it needs to be re-aligned. Probably the movement will need to be lubricated as well, 'cause the seller said it's been found inside an abandoned house, during the cleanup process before its demolition. The crown's a bit bent too, so I think it'll need some attention. On the other hand, the watch works properly, winds and keeps great time. I kept it on my wrist for two days and hasn't lost one second. I love it, especially its noisy rotor when I move my hand! ;-)

P.S. I can't stop thinking about the similarity between my Accurist and the old packages of the Dial soap, maybe it's a distant relative :mrgreen:

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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post07 Dec 2012, 14:26

vpn wrote:.......P.S. I can't stop thinking about the similarity between my Accurist and the old packages of the Dial soap, maybe it's a distant relative :mrgreen:

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M:)W:)M

Funny link to a watch!

The label says 'dial with at-7' but the clock reads 8, now i'm confused :-? :lol:
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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post07 Dec 2012, 14:44

Probably there are timezones between the clock on the package and the brand... There's some distance between 'em M:)W:)M :mrgreen:
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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post12 Dec 2012, 18:56

Some days ago, I've brought the Accurist to the "doctor", it was time to give to the watch a new "dress", a check-up of the movement and the minutes ring needed to be rotated a bit, in order to match the markers. Done in just one day, here's the Accurist after the "doctor" cured it, with a new "dress" and the ring properly aligned. Obviously I cannot avoid to include the wristshot and a pseudo-artistic still life for you all. ;-)

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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post13 Dec 2012, 03:40

Very nice! Looks a bit like my Doxa.

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With AS movement

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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post13 Dec 2012, 10:29

very nice for a classic watch.
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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post13 Dec 2012, 19:45

Thank you Dutchsiberia and Benrus! I've found out that the movement used by my Accurist is an ETA 2630, instead of a 2780. ;-)
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Re: From UK with love: Accurist Automatic from the '70s

Post13 Dec 2012, 22:21


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