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18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

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Mr Frequency 32768hz

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18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post20 Oct 2013, 14:41

I thought i would share these images of a 18k Euro Calculator case i picked up. It originally came from the Lancaster factory and was never originally sold. It has a brass plate plastic plug module with no workings inside, and no Pulsar stickers on the inside of the case, which is usually found on calculator models. I was interested to read the note on the case, "Prototype module", ( Space model ) ? I guess it might be a salesman's model to show customers. It also has 901 keys so i guess its an early 18k Euro with serial number 8007. I'm sure Bruce can help.
I can tell from the lugs its for a solid bracelet version, so does anyone have a spare 18k Bracelet laying around i can buy. :grin1:
BTW, i did have the other version 18k Euro case to fit a leather band....... But i lost it. I think ive hidden it so well i forgot where i put it. For two years its where about is making me loose sleep. :bang:


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bucko170

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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post20 Oct 2013, 20:54

Nice find Lloyd, thanks for sharing 8-)

It will be interesting to learn more about it, how does the prototype compare with the actual model produced? Same, similar or completely different? Any chance of a side by side photo?
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post20 Oct 2013, 22:06

bucko170 wrote:Nice find Lloyd, thanks for sharing 8-)

It will be interesting to learn more about it, how does the prototype compare with the actual model produced? Same, similar or completely different? Any chance of a side by side photo?



Hi Mick, Well its the same as the solid band 18k Euro case from what i remember. I don't have the solid band version so can be exact, although im 99% sure it is. The leather band 18k Euro model had 5 steps on the case lug, compared to the three on this version. Woudnt it be great if i could find the bracelet to go with this. More chance of finding rocking hourse do do.
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post23 Oct 2013, 19:18

nice find and pictures Lloyd!

btw can anybody tell me what the blue paint? is on the back on the case? Is it something for protection or decoloring from heating?
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post23 Oct 2013, 20:47

Kasper wrote:........btw can anybody tell me what the blue paint? is on the back on the case? Is it something for protection or decoloring from heating?


I would guess that it is just a protective layer of plastic to stop it getting scratched.
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post24 Oct 2013, 20:33

Yep- like the thin plastic on modern watch case backs- only this one is covering a solid chunk of 18K gold! :-D
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post24 Oct 2013, 23:56

I'm pretty certain that purpley gunk is actually applied as a liquid.We sometimes work in a factory that refurbishes industrial actuating valves and they still use it (or summat very similar) applied as a hot liquid dip for protection on threads etc
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post25 Oct 2013, 04:05

It's not uncommon to see nice NOS watch backs with a purple protective coating. It always seems to be blue or purple - bonus points for anyone who can come up with a reason.

-abe.

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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post25 Oct 2013, 05:24

I bought a Rado a while back with a new case that was completely encased in blue plasticy stuff. I was told that they travel like that and then the watchmaker or whoever removes it. I happened to get it with it still on. It's soluble in water and is cellulose based. I just soaked my Rado in hot water and it came off. (minus the movement ;-))

Nice Calc case!

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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post30 Oct 2013, 13:05

most 18K cases (not only Pulsar) were made in Switzerland and the blue dip film was widely used by Zenith, Omega and many more.
I have seen an Omega Electro Quartz 1300 in steel completely covered with the dip on all sides.
I find that very problematic...the watch dealer needs to remove the film one by one instead of having the factory use plastic or paper envelopes that are easier to handle and give 100% scratch protection. not lean IMO.
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post30 Oct 2013, 22:39

If you guys don't mind, I'd like to grab the wheel and steer us back to the original topic...
This is a perfectly ordinary 18K Euro Calculator case (to the extent that "ordinary" can be used in any sense to describe this watch!). I just looked at my two 1823s (which both contain 901 modules), and guess what...one case has five ribs on the case lug (serial number 8069), and the other (serial number 8029) has three, like this one! All structural details, inside and out, are identical, so I think we need to set all the talk about "prototypes" aside (the movement carrier also looks entirely standard). Also, note the Swiss inspection station hallmark (the little rectangular, light-colored spot to the left and below the "7" on the keyboard) stamped into the side of the case; both my 1823s carry the same mark, in slightly different positions, indicating these were individually punched, by hand, into each case (a couple of my 1822 Classics also carry this mark, indicating that at some point, they left the U.S. for Europe). There would be no need for a prototype to have this, since in all probability, it would never leave the factory. The main difference between my two is the construction of the bracelets...on 8069, the links are two ribs wide, and on 8029, the links are three ribs wide, and thus continue the pattern from case to bracelet. Interestingly, looking from the front of the watch, the bracelets appear identical (the separations between the links are not visually obvious), but from the side, the difference is striking (the internal construction of the bracelets, visible on the inside of the links, is also quite different). Yet, the bracelets are physically interchangeable between the two cases, with identical hinges (which carry identical sets of hallmarks) and clasps, so there is no doubt these are both original Time Computer bracelets (produced by different manufacturers...perhaps...no records exist to tell us for certain). At 154 grams of alloy weight (4.95ozT), or 3.72ozT of gold content (currently, about US$5,000), these are imposing timepieces.
Finally, for Time Computer, at least, it is certainly NOT true that "most 18K cases were made in Switzerland". While it is true that 18K was the standard for solid gold watch cases in Europe and the Middle East, ALL the 18K P1, P2, P3, and P4, plus the 1822 Classic Calculator cases (not to mention all the various solid 14K ones), came from Star Watch Case Co., in Ludington, Michigan. The only exceptions I am aware of are the 1823 cases, and the Midas Collection Touch-Command cases, which were made in such limited quantities they are virtually non-existent in today's collections, so they could hardly represent a majority of the 18K case production....more like 5% of it, if that (in fact, the name of the Swiss manufacturer remains unknown).
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post31 Oct 2013, 09:34

Thanks for the details Bruce.
Let's agree that all these specimens are somewhat special and every owner can be proud! :)
Can you elaborate a bit why an empty case would have an empty and factory fresh plastic carrier inside?

On the 18K I meant most cases in the watch industry were and still are Swiss...not talking strictly about Pulsar cases.
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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post31 Oct 2013, 10:53

I have no way (short of being the greatest psychic in the history of the world) of reconstructing the original history of these two parts, other than the case was among the stock at Lancaster when Time Computer closed operations, was sold many years ago to a collector in Los Angles, and was offered to me a couple years ago, along with a complete case with no bracelet, for what I considered a too-high price, since I already had two totally complete watches in the collection. I have never before heard the term "Space model" used in connection with the 1823 Calculators, and I would like to nip that in the bud right now, before it falls into common usage (like that awful "dot-matrix display" nonsense; I still cringe every time I see that used in descriptions of the Pulsars).
As to why a case would have an empty movement carrier inside, I would hazard to guess that it was placed there at Lancaster (where there would have been plenty of these parts available), for no other reason (based on my experiences with other Calculators) than to provide a backing for the keyboard, and prevent the buttons from falling out of their positions in the case, and being either lost or damaged.
As for most 18K watch cases being made in Switzerland, I have no idea if that is, or ever was, true. But, even if it is, by saying "not only Pulsar", you were certainly suggesting that the majority of 18K Pulsar cases were of Swiss manufacture, and that is demonstrably not correct (such sweeping generalizations almost never are).
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Mr Frequency 32768hz

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Re: 18k Euro calc Space model Prototype.

Post04 Nov 2013, 18:12

Bruce, i too thought the case looked like the regular 18k 1823. I thought id take pictures as the tag with Space model, prototype module, and plastic plug was intresting. Im sure collectors would not now refer to it as a Space model.

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