Eduoard Koehn 18j wristwatch movement resource

[cduke]

Hello Friends,

Anyone out there have a source for information about Koehn watch movements.

I have a wristwatch that appears to date from 1920-1930s and a part of the keyless works is broken. I am trying to find a way to see how the movement looked when it was whole. Maybe go to the manufacturer?

Thanks again.

[jdm]

1 hour ago, cduke said:

I have a wristwatch that appears to date from 1920-1930s and a part of the keyless works is broken. I am trying to find a way to see how the movement looked when it was whole.

As with most questions, you should post pictures about what you areasking. Even if it has been taken apart, just arrange parts and show them to help others help you.

[cduke]

1 hour ago, jdm said:

As with most questions, you should post pictures about what you areasking. Even if it has been taken apart, just arrange parts and show them to help others help you.

 

[Plato]

That's a beautiful movement. 

[JohnR725]

15 hours ago, jdm said:

you should post pictures about what you areasking.

In addition to pictures it would be nice to have the movement size.

The company is supposedly still in business? The reason I have my peculiar wording is If you look at the website you see the history at least the early history. Then later they talk about the rebirth of the company and it's not clear what happened between the original and the rebirth? But they Do you know they website you can reach out to contact them.

https://www.edouardkoehn.com/

[cduke]

1 hour ago, JohnR725 said:

In addition to pictures it would be nice to have the movement size.

The company is supposedly still in business? The reason I have my peculiar wording is If you look at the website you see the history at least the early history. Then later they talk about the rebirth of the company and it's not clear what happened between the original and the rebirth? But they Do you know they website you can reach out to contact them.

https://www.edouardkoehn.com/

I expected that this question would be tough to answer and apparently it is. Not much online info available about these fine watches.

[nickelsilver]

It's a really nice movement. The base was almost certainly not made by Koehn but probably came from the Vallee de Joux and was finished in their workshop in Geneva (since their history says they became a manufacture in 1891), it looks typical for VdJ, and it was normal to obtain ebauches and finish them then. I don't have anything here with exactly the same setup for the setting parts, but if you keep your eyes peeled you will likely come across an image somewhere that matches. The part that's broken is the bascule in French, sometimes called the yoke or clutch lever in English. In your case it's part spring, part lever.

[jdm]

4 hours ago, JohnR725 said:

Then later they talk about the rebirth of the company and it's not clear what happened between the original and the rebirth?

What happened with other old brands is that the original company may have ceased doing any business, perhaps gone bankrupt, disposed of any material goods and records many decades ago but someone still have the ownership of the brand. This last asset is then sold or granted to use to someone else, often there is capital from the Far East in these operations. At least in this case they appear to be producing in Switzerland rather than in China.

[cduke]

2 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

It's a really nice movement. The base was almost certainly not made by Koehn but probably came from the Vallee de Joux and was finished in their workshop in Geneva (since their history says they became a manufacture in 1891), it looks typical for VdJ, and it was normal to obtain ebauches and finish them then. I don't have anything here with exactly the same setup for the setting parts, but if you keep your eyes peeled you will likely come across an image somewhere that matches. The part that's broken is the bascule in French, sometimes called the yoke or clutch lever in English. In your case it's part spring, part lever.

Thanks nickelsilver! You have helped me out of a few jams in the past and I appreciate your time.

[JohnR725]

6 hours ago, cduke said:

I expected that this question would be tough to answer and apparently it is

You'll notice I asked two separate questions apparently both can't be answered? The reason I asked for the size was? One of the ways you can identify watches is with their setting components. Typically you look in the bestfit book but that's only good for the watches in the 60s or basically worthless for watches like this. But I have another book that's considerably older and it would've been a long shot anyway but it was worth a look. So in the absence of the size I just looked for the name and I never saw the name.

To understand the problem I have a link below. It's an interesting website for looking up watches I'm going to quote something off the webpage.

"In the past, especially between 1930 and 1970 more than 10.000 different movements were made, some in a million copies."

Then the problem with the quoted section is it starts in the 30s it doesn't go back far enough. Which means the quantity of various watches is way too small. Or basically and watch repair we end up with lots of movements with zero information. They typically only show up in the parts book if there were made in big enough quantities that somebody would actually have spare parts.

Then there is the other problem history of watch companies is very lacking. Even really big companies that have been in business for a long time nobody cared about their history until after they were gone. Trying to find history of companies of the past it's quite a challenge even a relatively modern companies.

https://17jewels.info/

3 hours ago, jdm said:

What happened with other old brands is that the original company may have ceased doing any business, perhaps gone bankrupt, disposed of any material goods and records many decades ago but someone still have the ownership of the brand.

Yes that's a common problem names it still exist which may or may not be tied to the original company but basically in name only. The only thing left of the company that was valuable was the name and it's out there somewhere. So if you can trace the name to A company the company probably has zero to do with watches are just living off the name being made with Chinese movements.

But what makes this company interesting is providing you don't pay attention to the fine print. It appears to be the current family? If you pay attention to the fine print is the current family living off their name and they probably have zero history on anything of the past other than the name is valuable.

3 hours ago, nickelsilver said:

The base was almost certainly not made by Koehn but probably came from the Vallee de Joux and was finished in their workshop in Geneva

In other words is one of the quantity of movements that exist out there that as far as history and paperwork goes it's nonexistent? On the other hand definitely has a familiar look as that's a standard layout for a watch of that time. To let you get away from looking for the name and basically just look for movements you may ask he find a picture of the dial side.