Did SW come with a 25 jewel cal 70-72?

[jmh86325]

294337346620

[Butch]

Interesting, huh? Again, anything is possible given a factory service after the sale or even during the production run that was all they had that day, but I have never seen this before.

I have a bigger question though as it relates to the Zodiac 7x movements, what is the difference between 25 and 21 jewels? We have all seen that they sometimes have 21 jewel movements.

[denennym]

I have a 21 jewel 70-72 SW not sure about 25 jewel.

[Grossisten]

Was this mentioned somewhere else in this Forum - or did I read it elsewhere: The number of jewels in watches were in some cases reduced/kept to a minimum to reduce import taxes/duties. This was particularly true in the US, I believe. In other cases the number of jewels were (or are, I seem to remember that this was classified as a more recent phenomenon) inflated. To my understanding more jewels are added than strictly needed to make a movement appear to be of higher quality. I'm sorry I didn't bookmark the source for this info. But the explanation fits with the overall picture of watches being imported in parts only to be assembled under different brand names in the US again to minimize duties. Like Wakman/Breitling. (More on that in for instance this article, which I haven't fact-checked but it mentions the same story as several other articles: http://www.woundforlife.com/2015/07/20/lessons-in-wristory-whats-a-wakmann/). Perhaps the difference in jewels then depends on what market a watch was intended for? Its only a theory of course, but one that would make sense.

[Butch]

Yes, there was a time when they would put more jewels in them to make them appear better and more valuable. I do not remember the brand, but I once saw a common watch (Bulova, Waltham, Gruen, etc.) with 50 or 60 jewels on the dial and when you looked at the movement there was a ring of them around the edge of the movement serving absolutely no purpose other than to justify the jewel count on the dial.

UV, in your opinion, is there any real difference between a 17, 21, or 25 jewel caliber 7x?

[Ultra-Vintage]

UV, in your opinion, is there any real difference between a 17, 21, or 25 jewel caliber 7x?

From my experience, there is benefit in 21 Jewels over 17 Jewels as the extra jewels usually include the reverser wheels and the 3rd wheel.  Is there anything wrong with only 17 jewels, definitely not, but jeweling what was just a brass/metal setting is almost always a plus.

As for the 25 Jewel, most I have seen were just cosmetically done so they could put a higher jewel count on the rotor.  The last few I have had in were identical to the 21 Jewel models, except they drilled and put flat jewels into the arm of the rotor assembly plate where they served no purpose (except to say it had 25 Jewels).

[Butch]

Thanks UV, that is what I was presuming.