Bifora 2025

Description

The caliber Bifora 2025 was the first inhouse lever movement of the german manufactury Bidlingmaier in Schwäbisch Gmünd. It probably was the first form lever movement ever made in Germany.

Its production started in 1928 and replaced the former swiss made form lever movement, Bidlingmaier used that time in their watches.

The cost efficient pillar construction is rather big with 8 3/4 x 12 lignes and, easy to see, made with punched marts, such as the base plate.

Why the Bifora 2025 was available in different executions, as with a open gear train bridge, is not known.

The punched base plate reminds a lot of simple movement constructions, which were common at that time especially in round shape.

In the specimen shown above, the bearings are just made of brass, no jewels.

There were also versions of that movement available, which had 15 jewels and so all bearings with rubies.

The gear train is a very conventional one with subseconds at “6” and mainspring barrel, which can be released, at 12 o’clock.

The escape wheel is made of steel.

Since the movement is a (cost efficient) pillar construction, it builds pretty high.

The not shock protected screw balance beats contemporarily slow with 18000 A/h and controls a swiss-type pallet lever movement.

The balance screws are only mockups. They are no screws at all, but semicircular bulges. Good for the aesthetics, but useless technically-wise.

On the dial side, there’s a cost-efficient rocking bar winding system with the click mechanism on the inner side. The rocking bar itself has got a recess on some versions, through which you can see the function of the hands setting gear.

The three pillars of the work are fastened with triangular rivets.

Unfortunately, the manufacturing quality of this movement is pretty low, on the specimen shown here, the pillars are so warped, that the movement is no longer workable, and even the replacement of the, from Josef M.Stadl from the DGC donated escape wheel, did not help, on contrary, at the end, the very thin axle of the donated wheel broke as well :-(

Technical data

Usage gallery