Birks Rideau

[Lord Flashheart]

hello folks,



I've recently inherited a vintage chronograph watch by Birks Rideau and I'm wondering if you guys might give me some background into the brand. It's a nice spotless watch and I'm led to believe it's from the 1950's. any info is greatly appreciated.

Garry

 

[viclip]

View attachment 74534 hello folks,



I've recently inherited a vintage chronograph watch by Birks Rideau and I'm wondering if you guys might give me some background into the brand. It's a nice spotless watch and I'm led to believe it's from the 1950's. any info is greatly appreciated.

Garry

Wow, your heirloom chronograph looks to be in tip-top condition!

Birks is a Canadian jewellery outfit, founded in the late 1800s. Your watch would be 1950s or 60s, at a time when Birks-branded quality watches were manufactured for them by Eterna. In all likelihood your chronograph movement was supplied to Eterna by Landeron, whose caliber 149 was of the 2-register type. You would need to have the back cover removed to positively ID the movement since Eterna could have used movements supplied by others such as Valjoux.

I really like that the minute register counts 45 minutes rather than the more common 30 or 60 minute intervals.

Before running the watch in earnest, you should have it serviced (unless you know that it was serviced recently). Be sure to have the work done by a bona fide watchmaker who knows what he/she is doing. Chronographs have numerous parts & the timer mechanism may need to be adjusted, being beyond the ken of the typical "botchmaker" who wouldn't even be able to put the thing back together again.

 

[Lord Flashheart]

Thanks for the response and info Viclip.

I have had the watch serviced already and it's keeping great time. I did notice the minute register only counts to 45 minutes, is there any reason for this or am I missing something obvious?
I seem to be lucky enough to have a family who bought quality watches back in the day. A few years back I inherited a 1918 Zenith wrist watch in a gold cushion faced case. A beautiful piece but way too delicate for my clumsy lifestyle.

Garry

 

[viclip]

Thanks for the response and info Viclip.

I have had the watch serviced already and it's keeping great time. I did notice the minute register only counts to 45 minutes, is there any reason for this or am I missing something obvious?
I seem to be lucky enough to have a family who bought quality watches back in the day. A few years back I inherited a 1918 Zenith wrist watch in a gold cushion faced case. A beautiful piece but way too delicate for my clumsy lifestyle.

Garry

Good to hear that your Birks chronograph has been serviced, evidently satisfactorily.

Being a 2-register chronograph, there is only a single register available to tally up the minutes, the other register being the "running seconds" one which works constantly whether the chronograph mechanism is off or on (with the central sweep only operating to indicate elapsed seconds, when the chronograph has been activated). It's up to the designer to determine how many minutes can be displayed on the minutes register, typically 30, 45 or 60 or otherwise depending upon the gearing arrangement between the watch's 4th wheel & the chronograph mechanism.

Of course if timing an event lasting beyond the minute register's highest value, the wearer could always count the number of completed revolutions & do the math accordingly in due course. As an aging baby boomer, if I tried counting let alone remembering the number of revolutions of the minute register followed by doing the math, I'd surely confuse myself to the dickens.

This is where the 3-register chronographs come in handy. These have a running seconds register, a 60-minute register, plus an hours register, the latter usually counting 12 hours although it could be less (again, dependent upon the designer's parameters, courtesy of the wonders of watch gearing).

Personally I prefer the 3-register sort although they are somewhat more difficult to read "at a glance", for example when I leave my car at a parking meter for 2 or 3 hours. The 2-register types are great for smaller timing tasks such as boiling eggs, waiting for epoxy to set, etc.

It's a matter of personal preference taking into account one's lifestyle. I have found it absolutely necessary to have several examples of both 2- & 3-register chronographs for my wrist. I deny being a watch lover, these chronographs were acquired purely out of pressing need.

How often must we time anything, let alone something lasting longer than 45 minutes? I hope very much that you treasure your Birks heirloom & that you take the best of care of it for the benefit of future generations.

Have you posted shots of your vintage Zenith?

 

[Lord Flashheart]

It is far and away my favourite watch. I used to like the pilot style watch with big "dinner plate" faces but this has a real elegance about it plus I love the fact hat it's so old.

I think I have posted the Zenith before but here's a couple I've just taken.

 

[viclip]

View attachment 74706 View attachment 74707 View attachment 74706 View attachment 74707 It is far and away my favourite watch. I used to like the pilot style watch with big "dinner plate" faces but this has a real elegance about it plus I love the fact hat it's so old.

I think I have posted the Zenith before but here's a couple I've just taken.

Your 17j-jewel Zenith is a stunner. That dial sure stands out & appears pristine. Thx for posting!