| Re: Please help me identify the "name" of my Curvex [message #5080 is a reply to message #5079] |
Fri, 13 February 2015 15:48   |
C. Hurt
Messages: 243
Registered: May 2013
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Gruen Guildsman |
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Barney Green wrote on Fri, 13 February 2015 01:59Neither the Captain nor the Centurion or Companion seem to have been advertised with a faceted crystal. So it is pretty much likely that the style number "only" specifies the footprint of the crystal, not the exact crystal itself. That was new to me...
The purpose of the style number was to allow the matching of cases produced in the USA to movements (shipped complete with dial and hands) produced in Switzerland. The style number signifies the specific dimensions and contours of the bezel opening, regardless of which movement is used, or the styling of the lugs. This made it possible to match up the proper pairing of case and movement without inspecting and measuring every time.
It also means, as you deduced, that it specifies only the footprint of the crystal, and explains why replacements often do not match the original format.
As an aside, faceted crystals, as well as colored crystals, were kind of a fad in the post WW2 years, so it doesn't surprise me that earlier cases using the 498 style number didn't use them, and the Portrait, likely being the last to use that number, did have the facets. Many other early '50s models used faceted crystals, while I don't believe that any produced in the 30s, and only a few in the late 40s did. Perhaps it had something to do with the advent of the formed, molded cylinder crystals, as opposed to the cut and ground crystals used earlier. I don't know when the cylinder crystals were introduced, but it seems like it was around that time.
[Updated on: Fri, 13 February 2015 15:50] Report message to a moderator |
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