One of the smallest round movements of AS was the AS 969, a movement with a diameter
of only 6 3/4 lignes.
It was launched in the early fifties and was, in terms of jewels, completely equipped with
17 jewels. Unlike earlier (15 jewel) movements, the minute wheel is ruby-beared, and the
escapement wheel bearing has got a cap jewel on the movement side. Together with
the golden toned Glucydur-screw balance, a good precision could
be achieved, depite of the tiny size. The hairspring of the balance, which was of course not
yet shock protected, was regulated in its effective length by a long regulator arm.
The construction is a bit unusual: Since there was not enough space, the bearing of
the fourth wheel is within the diameter of the escapement wheel, so that a stacked construction
had to be used.
An interesting detail is the protection of the escapement wheel, as a kind of
sickle shaped piece of metal, which protectes the outher teeth agains dirt and careless
watch tinkerers.
main plate
On the dial side, there's of course a yoke winding system.
The escapement pallets can be reached by two holes in the plate - especially on such a tiny
movement, this is very helpful, when, in a service, the exit pallet has to get a tiny little drop
of oil.
dial side view
Technical data
Manufacturer
AS
Caliber
969
Number of jewels
17
Escapement
Anchor with pallets
Balance
Glucydur screw balance
Shock protection(s)
none
Balance cock direction
clockwise
Hairspring stud
fixed
Regulator type
Long regulator arm
Movement construction
Fork Third wheel, Fourth wheel, Escapement wheel, Center wheel Mainspring barrel
Construction type
solid construction
Bridge shape
Giraffe, neck left, 4 gears
Winding mechanism
yoke
Setting lever spring
3 holes
Functions
Hour, minute
Beats per hour
18000
Size
63/4''' (measured: 14,95 mm)
Image in Flume Werksucher
1952 1
Factsheet
Test Results
The specimen tested here was gummed and not working. It was completely disassembled, cleaned
and oiled. Nevertheless, a problem remained: The cap jewel of the escapement wheel pressed to
hard on the pivot and brings the movement to halt. Maybe, the cap jewel plate was an incorrect
replacement part?
Timegrapher Protocol
Maybe because of the problem described above, and maybe because of the age and abrasion of
that vintage movement, the timing results were pretty poor. Nevertheless, with an adjustment, that
makes the movement tick a bit faster, all values would have stayed within the range of +- one minute
per day, which is acceptable.
