New Watch Day #3 - The Movement · Watch Lover

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New Watch Day #3 - The Movement

While the dial is truly a work of art and cannot be discounted in any conversation. I am also a big lover of the movement side of the watch. I find the movements can be every bit as stunning as the dial side!

I am always fascinated by the movement and how it works, to the point that I have started tinkering with Watchmaking as a hobby.

This movement is move of an industrial sheik style movement but you can still see some wonderful perlage work. While some older movements have a lot more intricate pelage work this one is still really nice.

Most people don't know that the Jewel count is a sign of the quality of the movement, not because they are "Ruby" jewels and they are all synthetic now, but because it shows the owner how much care was put into the movement itself.

Back in the day when real rubies were used the Ruby count was stamped into the movement so the correct import duties could be collected. Now that isn't the case.

This has 33 jewels, which means they have decided to have more Ruby (bearings) in places that don't typically get them. Most movements that were considered quality had a minimum of 17 jewels. That was the basic standard for a "Railroad Grade" watch or pocket watch.

The movement has a very architectural look. On the left side you can see the large exposed barrel/ratchet-wheel area, finished with a bright radial sunburst that catches the light beautifully in the video. Around it, the teeth of the winding/going train are visible, which gives the back a more mechanical and less “covered up” appearance than many modern automatics.

The upper bridge work shows straight graining/brushing, polished screw heads, several visible ruby jewels, and gold-filled/toned engraving. It is not decorated in an old pocket-watch style; it has more of a contemporary Swiss manufacture feel. The bridges are clean and angular, with broad brushed surfaces rather than heavy Geneva striping. The decoration is restrained, but the details are there when you get close.

Toward the lower portion of the movement, the balance assembly is visible beneath a bridge, with the gold-toned balance wheel sitting over a patterned plate surface. In the video, this is where the movement really comes alive: the balance oscillation gives the otherwise very composed movement a bit of kinetic charm. It is one of the benefits of this layout — you can see both the automatic winding system and the regulating organ without the view being dominated by a full rotor.

The caseback ring is also worth noting. Mine is engraved “RGM x Teddy”, “501 LE”,

There are also small boxed marks visible around the inside of the caseback ring.

Overall, the back of the watch tells a slightly different story than the dial. The front is traditional, elegant, and almost old-world American in spirit; the back is more modern Swiss micro-rotor engineering. That contrast is part of what makes the watch interesting to me.

It is not an RGM in-house caliber, but the ASE 200 is visually engaging, uncommon, and well matched to the dress-watch proportions and small-seconds dial layout.

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New Watch Day #3 - The Movement