Chaika 1200

Description

With its almost unbelievable small size of only 9.0 x 13.2mm (approx. 4 x 6 lignes), the russian Chaika 1200 is one of the pinnacles of russian watch making, in this case concerning its miniaturization.

Of course, such a compact design places particularly high demands on implementation, and so all important bearings are of course fitted with jewels, and the one-and-a-half-story design that was common at the time is also used, in which the escape wheel runs below the lower second wheel bearing.

The gear train is basically the common construction with mainspring barrel, directly driven center minute wheel, third wheel, seconds wheel and escape wheel.

An oddity is, that the the third wheel rund above and not below the minute wheel.

There is a special feature regarding the lever. For reasons of space, it has to be installed laterally, which means that the anchor fork and pallets are not in a line, but the fork is in the extension of one of the pallets (unfortunately, it is rather difficult to see in the picture).

The golden toned (probably Glucydur) is already screw-less, but not shock-protected beared.

It beats semi-fast with 21600 A/h, which can be adjusted on a short regulator arm.

Another oddity of this movement is the bearing jewel for the axle of the changer wheel, at position 9:30 o’clock. Technically, this makes little sense, as the friction of this very slowly rotating wheel is negligible. From a marketing perspective, this of course achieves the 17th jewel - an important selling point.

Of course, the Chaika 1200 uses a yoke winding system. As you can see, the shape of the setting lever spring matches perfectly with the reduced available space.

Technical data

Usage gallery