Bifora 49

Description

In the 1950ies, really tiny ladies' watches were state of the art, and so, the german manufacturer Bidlingmaier from Schwäbisch Gmünd had to react and offer a matching tiny movement, too. So, in 1953, they released the caliber Bifora 49.

It was a form movement with a size of only 5 x 6 3/4 lignes, equally 12.3 x 15.6mm. With 17 jewels (one of them was a cap jewel), it was technically very well made, and its gold toned screw balance was not only aesthetically pleasant, but also responsible for good precision.

The base plate shows the two-storey construction on which, the bearing of the fourth wheel (on the very left) resides above the gears of the escapement wheel. This construction was often used on tiny movements, not only from Bifora.

On the Bifora, all important bearings, except the minute wheel on the dial side and the mainspring barrel, contain rubies, together with the movement side bearing of the minute wheel and the cap jewel for the escapement wheel it’s a total 17 jewels.

As usual on tiny form movements, there’s a directly driven minute wheel and a really tiny fourth wheel.

The Bifora 49 uses a golden toned screw balance, which is beared in two Incabloc shock protection systems. It beats contemporarily slow with 18000 A/h and regulates a classic swiss pallet lever movement. The exact frequency can be adjusted with a long regulator arm.

One the dial side, you see the yoke winding system as well, was the flat Incabloc shock protection bearing.

Technical data

Usage gallery