Sicura "jump" Hour Watch, But More Like Sliding Hours!

[noirrac1j]

Hello,

Here is a Sicura with windows for hour, minute and date. The little propeller keeps track of the seconds. I overhauled two of these so far....It is powered by BFG 866 with 17 jewels---not one on the pallet lever itself! Apparently they ran out of jewels at that point or something so they used little pins. Keeps decent time though, and reminds me of old-style parking meters we had all over NYC about 10 years ago. Check the Watch Repair Help & Advice forum to see the movement tear-down and rebuild of the bfg866. 

 

JC

[Gary]

Awesome piece! Where do you find your specimens to work on?

[bobm12]

Nice looking watch and great going, JC!

[noirrac1j]

Awesome piece! Where do you find your specimens to work on?

Hello Gary,

I got two "working" examples from Ebay for not too much because they looked bad, I got a nice one from a forensic pathologist for $60.00, and a new BFG866  (one jewel) movement for $20.00 from Ebay that I used to harvest a few parts like the ratchet wheel, the click and and the barrel. I still have plenty of parts and just ordered 3 crystals from J Borel. The crystals are the hardest thing to get....only SternKreuz makes them and they only deal with material houses.  I can give you more info if you're interested in trying your hand that these.

JC

[Gary]

Hi JC,

 

Great watches again. Right now I think I am gong to start on something less complex!! But I am going to hold on to your offer for more information and I may want to tackle one of those in the near future. They are awesome peices and I would love to have one.

 

I am going to keep my eye out on the flea market vendors and see if I can locate any locally. I will keep you posted.

 

Gary

[Andyclient]

Great looking watch , I do really like them and have had a couple myself , but unfortunately as great as they look , with my failing eyesight i couldn't see the time without my glasses :geek: so i moved them on

[noirrac1j]

Hey Andy,

Yeah they can be difficult to read unless it is sunny or a well-lighted place. The gold dialed versions have all black dials with white numerals which makes it somewhat easier to read than the blue-faced with red/blue dialed versions.

JC

[Geo]

I quite like th quirkiness of these watches, but unfortunately I would have to carry a loupe with me to read the time!

[Gary]

JC

There is a "silverish" one on ebay now...I will try to find it again!

[rustycolt]

Nice job, and thank you for posting your project! I am currently working on one of my own, and I was wondering about the Steinkreuz replacement crystals you mentioned. You aren't kidding when you say that the glass is the most difficult part to find! 

Are you ordering them by Steinkruez reference number, or by Sicura case number, and what specific reference are you using?

 

Does the completed watch pictured on your wrist in the photo have one of these replacement crystals in it? From the angle and reflections, it is quite difficult to make out the fit of that glass. It appears to be a slightly different shape and size from the original. Can you comment on that please? Have you any photos that highlight the fit of that replacement?

 

Again, thanks for the time and effort on the posts!

J 

[Geo]

Welcome to the forum Rustycolt. (I've got one of these lying about somewhere) :-)

[bobm12]

Welcome to the forum from me too, Rustycolt! I like your Futurama's Fry avatar!

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[noirrac1j]

Nice job, and thank you for posting your project! I am currently working on one of my own, and I was wondering about the Steinkreuz replacement crystals you mentioned. You aren't kidding when you say that the glass is the most difficult part to find! 

Are you ordering them by Steinkruez reference number, or by Sicura case number, and what specific reference are you using?

 

Does the completed watch pictured on your wrist in the photo have one of these replacement crystals in it? From the angle and reflections, it is quite difficult to make out the fit of that glass. It appears to be a slightly different shape and size from the original. Can you comment on that please? Have you any photos that highlight the fit of that replacement?

 

Again, thanks for the time and effort on the posts!

J 

 

Nice job, and thank you for posting your project! I am currently working on one of my own, and I was wondering about the Steinkreuz replacement crystals you mentioned. You aren't kidding when you say that the glass is the most difficult part to find! 

Are you ordering them by Steinkruez reference number, or by Sicura case number, and what specific reference are you using?

 

Does the completed watch pictured on your wrist in the photo have one of these replacement crystals in it? From the angle and reflections, it is quite difficult to make out the fit of that glass. It appears to be a slightly different shape and size from the original. Can you comment on that please? Have you any photos that highlight the fit of that replacement?

 

Again, thanks for the time and effort on the posts!

J 

Hello Rusty Colt,

Thanks for the comments. The watch I have pictured in this post does have a replacement crystal, but the crystal was replaced in Europe prior to it being shipped to me when I bought it. Regarding the fit, you can see that it is slightly off from being perfect, but I do think that this is how the current replacement crystal fits.The Sternkreuz crystal I ordered was so close in dimensions I was certain it would fit, but it did not. I am attaching some photos of original and Sternkreuz for comparison:

 

As you can see the original crystal and the replacement are almost identical in diameter, but the original is smaller. The main thing is the curvature of the window in the original which is absent on the Sternkreuz--you can see the difference in their height. Also the width of the window is slightly different. Here are the dimensions

 

Original                                     Sternkreuz 322.926

dia=31.94mm                             dia=32..2mm  

window = 20.02 mm                    window=19.74mm

crystal vert. height=6.72mm         crystal vert. height=4.06mm

 

 

 

Unfortunately, I've had no luck finding anything even as close as the Sternkreuz and so have had to polish the crap out of crystals I have with Polywatch. I have 5 Sicuras and three of them are in very good shape with decent crystals and running well--I have become very good at overhauling these! The other two are mechanically fine, but the crystals are bad and on one the case is also pretty bad. I may have to try to file down the Sternkreuz but it would not be a good fit mainly because of the lack of curvature. I do have the Sternkreuz catalog but forget trying to order from them directly. Besides, I've combed through all of their Rundglas Sonderform crystals and have found nothing as close as the 322.926. The last option is to keep buying Sicuras that are not working just to get the crystal, which is a pricey endeavor as they often fetch a pretty decent dollar amount. If you have any leads on where to get a replacement let me know. I am going to keep trying. Someone has to know where a replacement--or a close fitting substitution--can be had.

[bobm12]

Hi JC,

 

Have you tried calling directly to ofrei and/or borel? Sometimes when I'm in a fix I call them and they come to me with at least an answer but mostly with what I need... even esslinger would be an option although I have a feeling borel and ofrei are the big daddys this side of the pond.

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

[rustycolt]

That is an excellent comparison, and some really valuable measurements! Hopefully they will aid the cause. With a little luck, the number of us collaborating on this quest will grow. It's only a matter of time before someone finds an unopened box of NOS glass in their father/grandfather's stuff and heads to the internet to find out what it is.

 

Haha, but seriously, I believe we can find something, somewhere. I have read about others forming acrylic crystals for custom shapes. Perhaps that is a possibility. It's a complex shape, but it might not be difficult to form a mold from the originals. Could be an interested party with access to a vacuum forming machine...?

[noirrac1j]

Hi JC,

 

Have you tried calling directly to ofrei and/or borel? Sometimes when I'm in a fix I call them and they come to me with at least an answer but mostly with what I need... even esslinger would be an option although I have a feeling borel and ofrei are the big daddys this side of the pond.

 

Cheers,

 

Bob

Ofrei? Bob have you called Ofrei recently with anything other than EXACT case numbers or mfg. part numbers? They are very good for many things but researching something like this Sicura crystal is not one of them...but I might try anyway- :zoro: .  After having posted the reply, I did find a GS crystal catalogue that has two possibilities: CY 934 and CY 934-17. Both of these have the complex shape and curve of the original but the catalogue specs don't give enough information besides the diameter and some other number that I can only assume is the window size--and both are within limits to at least try them. I have to wait till monday because it seems they leave at 12:30 on Friday, which living in Brooklyn I know is about religious observation. OK There will be more on this search soon!

JC

Edited December 12, 2014 by noirrac1j

[gkmaia]

Nice post. i am restoring one and was very helpful to find the crystal part number. 

If it weird I can't seem to find model numbers in any of them. Pain to find parts this way.

[noirrac1j]

On 4/15/2021 at 3:54 AM, gkmaia said:

Nice post. i am restoring one and was very helpful to find the crystal part number. 

If it weird I can't seem to find model numbers in any of them. Pain to find parts this way.

I was able to get crystals from Germanow-Simon (GS) in Rochester but they no longer have these. I don't know if anyone else has similar crystals.

 

J

[dsell993]

I just finished a similar project, and wanted to put an update here on the crystal, to help future searchers.

The Sternkreuz FBA 321.701 is also a good replacement for this watch. The GS CY 934-17 is not.

I was able to source the Sternkreuz through Cousins.

Here's a photo of the completed watch. Happy jumping!

Dave

[trixtrem]

I know this is an older topic. But i have 3 jump hours, 2 autos and 1 manual winde. Need a crystal, but non of the recommendation above are available. Does anyone have a line on crystals. I have searched for hours without luck.