AS 1654
 |
| AS 1654 |
|
Description
The selfwinding caliber AS 1654 is with a diameter of only seven lignes, which equals
less that 16mm, one of the smallest selfwindig movements ever made. It was launched
round 1960 and is similar to the
AS 1635, but with
an increased beat rate.
As you can easily see, the small diameter requires some compromises, the maybe most
noteable one is, that the hairspring length cannot be regulated when the selfwindig
mechanism is mounted. But removing it is not a real challenge for an experienced
watchmaker.
 |
| movement view without selfwindig mechanism |
|
Due to the small diameter, it was required to build highly, which means, that
the directly driven center second hand and the minute hand, which is also directly
driven, like on classic movements, are located on top of each other. This classy way
of construction leads to a thick movement, especially, since the selfwindig plates
mounted on top add quite a large amount of height to it. Since the movement looks
a bit dull, the case designers had to work and ensure, that the big height was somehow
hidden on small watches.
A speciality of the AS 1654 is the extremely tiny screw balance, which is secured by
two Incablock shock protection bearings. The balance doesn't beat with slow 18000 A/h,
but already with top modern 21600 A/h, six "ticks" per second. This was a huge improvement
for the accurancy, since these tiny movements were prone not to be ultimately precise.
How rare that combination of 21600 A/h and a balance with screws is, can be seen on the
fact, that it it hardly used anywhere. The only other watch in my collection with that
combination is the sligtly larger
Zaria 1800.
 |
| selfwindig mechanism |
|
The AS 1654 winds with two click wheel changers in both directions. These changers
also decouple the rotor while manually winding the movement. Unlike similar ETA movements,
the hand winding is very smooth.
On the dial side, you find the familiar construction with yoke winding system and
display gears, just like it was used several decades.
There's a small oddity: The mainspring barrel is beared in a jewel, which isn't
neccessiary, and additionally, the bearings of the escapement wheel and the escapement
lever contain cap jewels. This is really odd, since normally, cap jewels are only
used on the movement side, where they are visible, and additionally, this is the
only movement, I have ever seen, where the escapement lever uses a cap jewel.
Even more strange is, that these methods to increase the jewel count aren't mentioned
anywhere. Neither on the movement, nor on the rotor nor on the dial can you find
the number of jewels. That's really unusual for a time, where every extra jewel added to
the value of a watch.
 |
| dial side view |
|
Technical data
| Manufacturer | AS |
| Caliber | 1654 |
| Number of jewels | 23? |
| Escapement | Anchor with pallets |
| Balance | Nickel screw balance |
| Shock protection(s) | Incabloc |
| Balance cock direction | clockwise |
| Hairspring stud | moveable |
| Regulator type | Hairspring key |
| Movement construction | Fork
Escapement wheel, Fourth wheel, Third wheel
Center wheel
Mainspring barrel |
| Features | SCD,AUT |
| Functions | Hour, minute, second, selfwinding |
| Beats per hour | 21600 |
| Size | 7''' |
| Image in Flume Werksucher | 1962 83 |
|
| Factsheet |
Usage gallery
