Buser 140
Description
The red-golden Buser 140, with its full size of 11 1/2 lignes, is a true gents' watch caliber and it is a hot candidate for the title “most odd gear train”.
base plate
21 jewels on a windup movement normally indicate a high number of cap jevels, but not here, because on the Buser 140, we have an unusual high number of gears, all using rubies.
gear train
When looking at the gear train, you can only stow. No less than seven gears are used here, four are normal …
The pretty large, also red gold, mainspring barrel drives the center minute wheel, followed by third and fourth wheel. But now, the next gear is a steel transmission wheel, which drives by its outher teeth the center seconds wheel. This wheel now also engages with a second steel transmission wheel, which is highly toothed, and which now finally drives the steel escape wheel, also highly toothed.
The reason for this laborious and exhausting construction can only be guessed, probably there were patents for the center seconds indication which had to be bypassed.
side view of the gear train
A normal escape wheel has got only half of teeth on its drive, but not the Buser 140.
gearing of the escape wheel
Another odd detail is the usage of a lateral lever, which has got an extraordinarily large lift angle of 59 degrees.
The monometallic screw balance, which acts on this pallet lever, beats slowly with 18000 A/h. It’s precise frequency can be adjusted with a long regulator arm, which crosses over a clear scale on the balance wheel cock.
detail: Lateral lever
As unusual the Buser 140 looks on the movement side, as familiar it looks on the dial side. Of course, the setting lever spring of the yoke keyless works is shaped in a distinctive way, but most noteably is the shock protection, since a rare Neutroshock-Bearing is used.
Buser 140: Dial side
In the lab
Timegrapher result
With a simple service, the movement could be brought back to life, but its timing results are pretty poor. The low amplitudes are the result of a wrong life angle. Probably, a wrong (or damaged) shock protection of the balance wheel cock is also responsible for the not really “precision”-like results.| horizontal positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| dial up | +146 s/d | 155° | 1.7ms |
| dial down | +17 s/d | 242° | 1.7ms |
| vertical positions | |||
| crown right (12 up) | +40 s/d | 170° | 1.7ms |
| crown up (3 up) | +-0 s/d | 136° | 4.3ms |
| crown left (6 up) | +9 s/d | 146° | 4.3ms |
| crown down (9 up) | +58 s/d | 138° | 4.3ms |
Technical data
| Manufacturer: | Buser |
| Caliber: | 140 |
| Size: | 11 1/2''' (measured: 25,6mm) |
| Height: | 4,20mm |
| A/h: | 18000 |
| lift angle: | 59° |
| Number of jewels: | 21 |
| Balance types: |
Nickel screw balance |
| Shock protection(s): |
Neutro-Shock |
| Balance bearing / direction hairspring: | Counterclockwise |
| Moveable stud: | no |
| Adjust mechanism: | Long regulator arm |
| Construction: |
|
| Construction type: | solid construction |
| Winding mechanism: | yoke winding system |
| Setting lever spring: | 6 hole(s) |
| Features: |
|
| References: |
Ebauches: 1953 II 37/1 Flume: K2 - |
| Inventory number: | 20044 |
Usage gallery
anonymous "Precision" gents watch