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Home » The Gruen Model Database » The caliber database » Caliber 641 (640) - Factory R Gruen Guild (10.5 ligne, 15 jewels)
Re: Caliber 641 (640) - Factory R Gruen Guild [message #12086 is a reply to message #12085] Sun, 02 February 2020 12:28 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Barney Green
Messages: 1755
Registered: February 2014
Location: Wolfsburg, Germany
Gruen Authority
Very cool finds, Dan!

Cal. 640/641 is the only one I also have ever seen being Factory R stamped. I share Dan's thoughts that also other movements may have come from this source although they might not have been Factory R stamped.
This movement or at least the ebauche for it was in my opinion manufactured by a Swiss maker starting with "R". So I think that the Factory R riddle may be solved. I know that there will be critics which see differences in the pictures but my personal opinion is that I found a match for the movement, so I try to be careful with my writing.
Have a look into the design registration from December 1922, here are two movements, one being an 8.75 ligne, the other one a 10.5 ligne, number 10520:

/vgforum/index.php?t=getfile&id=6059&private=0

To me this is a match. A better picture can be found in an ad from the maker. To disclose the name, it is a company called Russbach-Hänni & Co, located in Court. Founded in 1888 under the name Hänni, later Hänni & Cie, it became Russbach-Hänni & Cie, when Mr. Georges Russbach who married the widow of Arnold Hänni, Marie-Eugenie Hänni, nee Frey (don't they belong all together somehow?), took over the company in 1911.

/vgforum/index.php?t=getfile&id=6060&private=0

This ad is from August 1922, so we know that the movement must have been available before the registration already. Russbach also supplied to Alpina before the Alpina-Gruen connection, I have one Alpina watch with a Russbach made movement. But all timings here match perfectly with Dan's observations.
The company went out of business about 1928 and Mr. Georges Russbach-Hänni became member of the board of a pharmaceutical company called Pharmasera.

You may now again start throwing stones on me but this is something I owed some members of this forum.
There is also evidence for another factory ID, this time it is one of the suspects named in the movement document already. I may share my findings as well, don't know if someone is interested.

Barney
  • Attachment: R10520.jpg
    (Size: 39.94KB, Downloaded 1302 times)
  • Attachment: Russbach.jpg
    (Size: 132.88KB, Downloaded 1314 times)


Gruen, Gruen, Gruen ist alles was ich habe... Gruen, Gruen, Gruen is all I have...(German folklore song)

[Updated on: Sun, 02 February 2020 19:47]

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