4 Euro

The Movements
of the Masterpiece Collection

MASTERPIECES
Editorial Peseux
„... from the veil of oblivion Scaling time –
to the glow of desire ...“ hour by hour.

This is how a journalist referred to a Peseux 7046 movement

Maurice Lacroix limited edition when
writing about the Masterpiece collection. In 1923 Charles Berner started a small Masterpiece hallmarks: intricate dials and cases.
With great devotion to detail, René manufacture in the community of Peseux
Baumann, the spiritual father of these (canton of Neuchâtel) for the production
masterpieces, has aroused a number of movement blanks with pallet escape-
of these acclaimed movements from their ment. These movements were primarily In response to a growing demand for
extended slumber to make them into intended for the watch industry's new thin watches, the different movements
desirable timekeeping classics. Original Peseux 7046 movement. rising star, the wristwatch. By late 1933 became available with beveled edges.
They epitomize a short past already output by the young ébauche maker had Not only did the sides remain low but
considered venerable for a watch brand Many timepieces of the Masterpiece reached 215,980 units. they also gave the impression of relatively
with just 25 years of history. collection harbor preciously rare gems: In 1935 the company's product line flat cases despite a movement thickness
movements from the heydays of comprised some 15 different basic move- of 3.1 mm.
„Do not disdain the Master,“ admonishes mechanical watchmaking now available ments, all handwind. Products ranged
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his only in limited numbers; lovingly ticking from the 4 1⁄4-ligne baguette movement 1985 marked the end of 60 years of
„Faust“. Indeed, there is something that treasures whose production ceased with the designation 90 (9.8 x 24.3 mm) movement making. It involved the 7001
cannot be overlooked: when you want a long time ago. They underscore the to the oval 50 (13 x 22 mm) and the available from ETA today but launched
to be called „master“, you must be stringent aspiration of Masterpiece tonneau-shaped 110 (18.8 x 26.35 mm). in 1971. While the Peseux name has
intimately familiar with your trade and watches to combine the best of fine ML 28 movement based on the Peseux 7046. Among the „jewels“ of this small been history since 1985, the 60 move-
be ahead of those you're teaching. craftsmanship with masterful finishing. movement maker is the much sought- ments developed and produced by
René Baumann, Designer of Time This portrait depicts those watches which after Peseux 260. the movement maker live on among
While the premier watches of the derive from movements that are discon- collectors everywhere.
Masterpiece collection are mechanical tinued for the most part. It is intended In 1968 Peseux introduced its 7046
timepieces with a contemporary design, for those who are fortunate enough to handwind movement. It crowned the
technical know-how has afforded them call one of them their own, and for successful 7040 movement family with
greater functionality. What's more, those who, until now, have perhaps small second (23.30 mm diameter).
they deliver foremost authenticity and not been so lucky. Unlike its basic 7040 counterpart,
appeal since the availability of original the 7046 movement included a push-
movements is limited. Maurice Lacroix chose to publish this piece-activated date window. Balance
brochure because a long and sometimes frequency was a moderate 21,600 A/h.
turbulent history surrounds many of
its movements. It aims to provide the
kind of background information
which many aficionados of mechanical
watches may find most valuable or
even indispensable.

Ref. 28.762-1101
–3–
Valjoux
A chronograph classic Valjoux 72C movement featured an additional 12-hour counter Months with fewer than 31 days require
At the time, chronographs had no calen- for longer time intervals. Located under- manual correction. The 72C movement
wound by hand. dar features. To remedy the situation, neath the dial, the corresponding is a typical Valjoux product with a hori-
watchmakers had recourse to a proven mechanism offered sufficient room to zontal wheel clutch connecting move-
predecessor, the Valjoux 72 VZH, a varia- accommodate a simple but complete ment and gears, and functions controlled
Even though this number may appear tion of the legendary 23 movement. calendar. In 1946 Valjoux came out by a nine-column ratchet wheel.
high at first, output was infinitely Launched in 1938, the movement with its new 72C caliber – also 6.95 mm The 72 caliber and its derivatives were Original Valjoux 7736 movement.
small when considering it spanned thick – with day and month displayed made until 1974. That year marked
60 years of production. Outstanding through small apertures in the dial. the end of an important chapter in Swiss
quality commanded relatively high prices A central hand points to the date. watchmaking history. But the legend
and therefore low output. In addition, lives on through an inventory of the
almost all renowned watchmakers premier watch movements finished with
(e.g. Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, tender-loving care by Maurice Lacroix.
Rolex, Vacheron Constantin) used
Original Valjoux 23 movement. the classic Valjoux 23 movement in their
chronographs. A pivoting ratchet wheel
controls the movement's start, stop ML 46 movement based on Valjoux 7736.
and reset functions. But watch aficiona- The limited quantities of original parts
dos recognize the premier Valjoux for the screwed balance were earmarked
movements not only on the basis of their for 700 watches in gold/steel.
characteristic levers, sliding gears,
springs and wheels but also because
of the ratchet wheel itself with no less
than nine columns, more than any other Valjoux 7736 movement
similar competitor product. But there were also watchmakers who
wanted to supply their customers with
more economical chronographs.
The answer came in 1946 by the name of
ML 83/72 movement based on Valjoux 23/72C. 77 ECO, a 13-ligne ratchet wheel move-
ment in which the customary clutch
is replaced by a so-called oscillating gear.
Introduced in 1967 and produced
until 1973, the 7730 movement with its
intelligent guideway – to replace the
intricate column wheel – and customary
Valjoux 23 movement wheel clutch, became the basis for the
When the military demanded reliable 7733 series introduced in 1969.
wrist chronographs at the onset of World With 30 or 45-minute counters included
War One, even Switzerland's mechanical in the basic models, the 7734 added a
watch wizards were unable to deliver. date display, the 7736 (31.0 mm diameter
Movements that were sufficiently small Ratchet wheel with nine columns. and 7.4 mm thick) a 12-hour counter.
but dependable were virtually unavail- With its automatic 7750 movements
able. Of course, it did not take long for gaining momentum, Valjoux ended
expert movement makers – including the production of these handwind
Valjoux – to meet the demand. By 1916 movements in 1978.
the 13-ligne 23 chronograph movement
(29.33 mm diameter, 5.85 mm thick)
had become a production model and was
chosen by a multitude of wristwatch 199 aficionados of mechanical
manufacturers for many years to come. Made just 220 times and
watches are the proud
no longer available:
Some 125,000 movement blanks of this Valjoux 23 chronograph in owners of a steel chronograph
type were produced until 1974. yellow gold. with 7736 movement.
Only 65 (!) ratchet wheel chronographs were ever
crafted in yellow gold.

–4– –5–
Venus
Venus 188 movement –
an eloquent name for a masterpiece.

Venus SA was founded by P. Berret, J.-B.

Berret and O. Schmitz in the year 1924.
Home to the movement maker was
the community of Moutier in the canton
of Berne. One year later, Gasser & Co.
of Biel acquired the estate of J.-B. Berret,
who had withdrawn from the business.
But lagging sales is not what caused the Such handwind pallet movements fea-
company's demise. No less than 38,000 tured a round, tonneau-shaped or But when Venus SA folded in 1966,
blanks were made each year by a work- rectangular design, the latter with it did not mean a final end. Some of the
Original Venus 188 movement. force of 25. With 44 watchmakers and beveled or rounded edges. Economic rare movements were found elsewhere
other employees on the payroll, produc- difficulties forced Venus SA to join fast- under a different name. The Venus 188
tion of pallet movements for men's growing Ebauches SA in 1928. movement, for example, met with
and women's wristwatches soared to A patent for a first chronograph was renewed success one year later at Valjoux,
146,000 in 1927. awarded to Venus SA in 1933. The its bigger competitor. Under the name
movements it made as early as 1935 7730, no less than 175,000 units were
allowed to measure times of short dura- produced until 1973, proof positive that
tion without jeopardizing timekeeping the Venus movement launched in 1948
precision. The movement's intricate did have a great deal of merit.
gears could be admired through a
see-through back. Admittedly, it did not have a ratchet
wheel. But that alone is not necessarily
By 1950 five basic movement models had the measure of all things. A revolving
evolved: 150, 170, 175, 179 (with drag- cam activated at the push of a button
ging hand) and 188. They were to form delivers the same reliability. Considered
the basis for another 15 movements. in the late '40s to be a precursor for
Towards the mid-'60s, however, the things to come, the Venus 188 movement
entire mechanical chronograph sector integrated all of the features of a classic
suffered a massive decline due to the chronograph: horizontal clutch, large
growing demand for automatic hand- balance with a frequency of 18,000 A/h
wind stopwatches. While not immedi- or 2.5 Hz. It allowed to stop the time
ately available on the market, they 1/5 of a second and to measure time
spelled the end for Venus SA. In 1966 intervals up to thirty minutes.
it closed its doors after 40 years of illus-
trious performance on Switzerland's
watchmaking stage.

Venus movement by Maurice Lacroix. Screwed balance included.

The edition was limited worldwide to 425 pieces in

pink gold and just 125 pieces with platinum case.

–6– –7–
A. Schild AS 5008 movement with
automatic wind mechanism.
Each movement marked AS:
the handwind AS 1931. AS did not develop its automatic alarm (30.0 diameter x 7.6 mm thick with push-
overnight. When it was finally intro- piece-activated date and day diplays).
duced to the marketplace in 1973, indus- With 180 parts a piece, some 175,000
In 1896 Anton Schild – brother of Urs try analysts believed it was already movements were made during this
Schild, founder of Eterna and of move- too late. Mercilessly, market forces put a time period.
ment giant ETA – began to make his stronghold on production. What went
own movements known by his initials. wrong? When quartz mania began to hit The movement's breakthrough in
The AS movement was born. western consumers, alarm timepieces mechanical watches came around 1990
were sold for nearly nothing. The oppor- when ML introduced a gold-plated Original AS 5008 movement.
Anton Schild recognized the advantages tunity to make a profit by selling version of an automatic wrist alarm with
of mechanized watch production at an mechanical alarm movements vanished 17 jewels. Destined to become a much
early stage. It would deliver the precision almost overnight, a bitter pill to swallow sought-after collectors' item, it was
needed to be able to readily exchange all for AS. Machines ran for almost four followed by pink gold and platinum
parts. When he joined forces with British years until the Grenchen movement models. The AS movement is the only
watchmaker John Harwood in 1926, maker reluctantly ceased production movement in which a rotor winds
the business of automatic movements in 1977 of its fine Brain-matic 5008 both the watch and alarm. In later years,
was born. Following long negotiations, ball bearings were added to the conven-
powerful A. Schild SA with a workforce tional shaft rotor while the number of
of 2,000 merged in 1926 with the jewels rose from 17 to 31.
Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontainemelon
(FHF) and Ad. Michel SA to become
Ebauches AG. With 330,000 units sold
between 1970 and 1974, the AS 1931
handwind movement is a truly rare ML 22 movement with rotor removed.

Current version in stainless steel.

commodity. Blinded by the undeniable
success of its mechanical movements,
the rather conservative movement
maker missed the necessary transition
from mechanical to electronic watch.
In 1978 AS saw no other alternative Believed to be the most successful alarm
but to merge with ETA, a sister com- movement of all times, the 11 1⁄4 ligne
pany of Ebauches SA. In its wake the 1475 with two barrels was launched
range of available movements was by Grenchener ASSA in 1954. More than
Original AS 1475 movement. narrowed down. 781,000 units were sold to a variety of
watchmakers until 1970. The alarm
In 1983 when the demand for mechanical sounded for ten seconds, the balance The pink gold version
watches hit bottom, AS completely rotated every hour at a conventional was limited to 999
pieces. Just 199
disappeared from the scene. Left behind 18,000 A/h. In 1970 AS increased vibra- were available with
are hundreds of movements and the lega- tions to 21,600 A/h to improve precision. platinum case.
cy of the role played by a true pioneer in In the process, AS 1930 superceded AS
the field of automatic movements 1475 while AS 1568 became AS 1931.
and wrist alarms.
Even though AS ceased production of its
wrist alarm movement in 1974, the sound
lives on at Maurice Lacroix in a limited
Early Maurice Lacroix wrist alarm, not limited and
A new lease on life: the ML 63. number of original 1931 movements with pink gold-plated. Later, pink-colored cases with
date display known as ML 63. lower copper content were used predominantly. Ref. 20.779-6705

–8– –9–
Unitas
Unitas 6376 movement. A matter of seconds.

The origins of the 13-ligne 6376 hand- These features in particular caused the This extraordinary way of keeping
wind movement go back to the '30s. 17-jewel Unitas 6376 to be preferred time derives from precision pendulum
Among its particular features are a by the military. Nicknamed „army move- clocks, the so-called regulators. Until
relatively large balance, a leisurely rate ment“, it became the movement of the middle of the twentieth century,
of 21,600 A/h and a small second choice for military wristwatches. While these most accurate of timekeepers were
at 6 o'clock. While not particularly thin, production of the popular blank contin- located underground in observatories
it is very reliable, rugged and accurate. ued between 1978 and 1985, sales were everywhere to protect them from the
suspended as early as 1984. Since then, effects of vibration. They were also used
the 6376 has become a much sought-after by watchmakers to verify the rate of
Original Unitas 6376 movement. movement especially when refined and their watches.
decorated for ML 50, ML 53 and ML 56
movements from Maurice Lacroix. When it came to timekeeping for scien-
tific or technical purposes, seconds and
minutes proved more important than
hours. Equally indispensable was the
capability to read time promptly and
umistakably. Guided by these prerequi-
sites, watchmakers created a special dial
with large central minute hand and two
auxiliary dials, one in the upper half
for showing the hours, the other in the
lower half for indicating seconds.

By adding a central date hand, the regu-

lator from Maurice Lacroix integrates
four different timekeeping elements
The ML 50 movement version. into one movement.

Hours, minutes and

seconds go their own
separate ways in the
An individually numbered card certifies Masterpiece regulator
the limited edition of the regulator model. with date display.
The steel version was
limited to 400 pieces. A brilliant white dial made of precious enamel hides
Worldwide only 350
were available in the intricately decorated ML 56 movement based on
yellow gold. the Unitas 6376. Limited editions of 400 in stainless
Masterpiece power reserve steel (Ref. 56.785-1101) and just 100 in pink gold
with ML 50 movement.
were temporarily available.
The convenient indicator
is positioned between
9 and 12 o'clock.

– 10 – – 11 –
Unitas
Size is everything –
when movements measure up.

Unitas 6497 and 6498 movements.

1984 or 1985 would mark the end of

Original Unitas 6498 movement.
Unitas. But by that time production by When less is more -
the Tramelan-based movement maker the Masterpiece skeleton.
was limited to just three different blanks.
They included the 16 1⁄2-ligne 6497 Most aficionados of mechanical watches
and 6498 pocketwatch movements are very much interested in what is inside
(diameter 36.5 mm) manufactured as their favorite timepieces. The sapphire
early as 1967. While they managed to crystal back common to all Masterpiece
survive relatively unscathed the turmoil models has come a long way towards
Original Unitas 6497 movement. unleashed by the quartz revolution, satisfying such aspiration. What often
rationalization called for their integra- remains invisible, however, is the rotation
tion into the product line of movement of wheels and gears as well as the transfer
maker ETA. The 6497 is a so-called of force from barrel to balance. Winding
Lépine or open-face movement, i.e. the and setting mechanisms are hidden from
ML 07 movement.
small seconds hand is fitted in the axis of view by silver dials. This Masterpiece
the winding stem. Its 6498 sister move- is different. While obstructive material
ment embraces the so-called savonette used to be removed, high-precision
design in which the winding stem is per- machines make the dreams of today's
pendicular to the line joining 12 o'clock mechanics enthusiasts come true Jour et Nuit.
on the dial and the seconds pivot. and visible.
Irrespective of their design differences, Ref. 76.840-1702
A two-legged hour hand – with sun
both movements are 4.5 mm thick. (available as of autumn 2000)
and moon symbol at either end –
The Maurice Lacroix version.
Their mainspring stores enough energy rotates once a day around the small
for two full days while the large balance seconds hand and travels a semicircle
completes 18,000 vibrations per hour. of 180 degrees.
Faithful to its origins, the former 6497
Unitas was integrated into the pocket-
watch models of the Maurice Lacroix
Les Mécaniques collection.

Back to the first -

Calendrier Rétrograde.

Of course, the primary function of most

watches is to keep track of hours and
minutes. In this model, for example,
central hands were chosen deliberately month's time to indicate the date. On
to optimize readability under any cir- the 31st of the month, the date hands
Ref. 16.807-1101
cumstances. A power reserve indicator returns to its initial position, a feature
at 2 o'clock shows the movement's referred to by professionals as „rétro-
power reserve in hours. A fine tribute grade“. Like all models with similar cal-
Left: This early Maurice Lacroix pocketwatch played to watchmaking tradition is the small endar, the Calendrier Retrograde requires
one of the leading roles in Wim Wenders’ „In weiter seconds hand at 6 o'clock. Finally, manual correction in months with fewer
Ferne so nah“ with Otto Sander, Nastassja Kinski the tip of an elegant hand positioned than 31 days – by pressing a small push-
and Heinz Rühmann. at 10 o'clock travels 130 degrees in one piece on the side of the dial. Ref. 07.769-1602

– 12 – – 13 –
FHF
Form follows function:
the FHF 29 tonneau movement. FHF 29 Masterpiece Limited.

Just ten years after it was relegated to The limited-edition Masterpiece

the annals of watchmaking history, FHF 29 is much sought-after by watch
the Fabrique d'Horlogerie de Fontaine- connoisseurs around the world. Only
melon received proper recognition 440 were made in stainless steel, 260
when Maurice Lacroix adopted some Naturally, these parts were uniformly in stainless steel/750/pink gold and
of its legendary movements. accurate because they came from the just 100 in the exclusive 750/pink
same lot and could be mounted without gold version. As for all Masterpiece
The 8 3⁄4 x 12-ligne FHF 29 movement difficulty. But when machines were models, a certificate testifies to the
(19.85 x 26.35 mm, 3.3 mm thick) made reset to make other movements, the watch's authenticity.
Original FHF 29 movement.
its debut around 1933 when rectangular components of different series were no
wristwatch cases were about to reach longer readily interchangeable due to This Masterpiece stands out in partic-
their zenith. However, today's revival differences in size. +In other words, ular because of its extraordinary
of this fine movement obliges Maurice the „new“ FHF 29 movement required design. Its fine optical details and
Lacroix to allocate considerable a great deal of intuition to select the technical features are legion: hand-
resources. At the time, many of the right parts and to perform the necessary decorated, tonneau-shaped FHF 29
movement's parts (main plate, barrel finishing work. movement, 18,000 A/h/2.5 Hz, 16 jew-
bridge, dial train bridge, pallet cock) els (15 jewels for the stainless steel
were made in lots of one or several Of course, the movement depicted here model), pallet and pallet wheel of pol-
gross (12 x 12, i.e. 144 units). reflects the high standard of finishing ished steel, Glucydur balance wheel,
operations by Maurice Lacroix watch- Nivarox 1 balance spring, Nivaflex
FHF 29 by Maurice Lacroix.
makers: rhodium-plated surfaces with main spring, sapphire crystal, case
„côtes de Genève“ decoration, beveled back with sapphire crystal, 925/silver
bridges as well as pallet and pallet wheel dial, Louisiana crocodile leather strap.
of polished steel. A fine Glucydur
balance wheel and self-compensating
balance spring vibrate at 2.5 Hz for a
rate of 18,000 vibrations per hour.

Ref. 35.816-1101

Ref. 35.816-1101

Text: Gisbert Brunner Ref. 35.830-7401

– 14 – – 15 –
Maurice Lacroix. Tomorrow’s Classics.

Masterpiece Calendrier Rétrograde Ref. 76.840-1101