Perla 8 3/4

Description

Jacob Straub, supplier of Alpina, also made ebauches under the brand Perla. One of them is the Perla 8 3/4, also known as Alpina 711, which was rather tiny that time with a diameter of 8 3/4 lignes.

It is a well made movement, and with its silver- or steel colored plates and bridges, partially decorated with a perleage, it looks quite modern.

The gear train is contemporarily modern with mainspring barrel, center minute wheel, third wheel, decentral seconds wheel at 6 o’clock (indication not used here) and the steel escape wheel.

Into the latter one, the pallets of the swiss pallet lever escapement, engage.

The slotted bimetal screw balance tells us, that the Perla 8 3/4 is an older movement (probably from the 1920s to 1930s). Of course, it is not yet shock protected, but its beating rate of 18000 A/h can be regulated with a long regulator arm.

On the specimen in the archive, the setting lever is broken, but that doesn’t hurt much the functionality of the movement. On the other hand, the characteristic shape of this setting lever spring makes it easy to identifiy it.

In the lab

Technical data