Finally, a watch with the Fontomatic movement

Let's see 'em! Pics and Reviews welcome
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svaglic
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Finally, a watch with the Fontomatic movement

Post by svaglic » Thu Jun 08, 2023 6:44 am

This is a link to the first time I saw this movement, I posted about it here.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1792&p=9567&hilit=F ... rRWI#p9567
I didn’t get it because it said the movement was broken.

I looked since then for a movement that wasn’t broken, had a nice dial and was a good price.

I was always late to find one in good shape at a good price, they usually were broken movements, bad dials or cases or the people selling them were out of their damn minds in the asking prices.

Well, I got one
Nice dial and case
DC1456FE-83D3-4C56-A3C4-0623D29EDF1B.jpeg
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The movement shots are the sellers pictures. I don’t like taking off the backs of watches to see the movement if I don’t have to.

FHF Caliber 65 "Fontomatic" uses a half-ring rotor mounted on a large-toothed arch instead of the classic central rotor mounted on a shaft
2BA475E5-E830-4375-84FB-AE0ED5B11DCE.jpeg
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Info on the movement
https://www.10e10.ch/2020/04/vintage-mo ... 1960s.html

ENGLISH (il testo italiano è in fondo alla pagina)
Having been founded in 1793, the Fabrique d’Horlogerie de Fontainemelon (FHF) was the world’s oldest raw movement (ébauches) manufacturer. In 1926, it was a founding member of the Ebauches SA holding, along with two companies from Grenchen: AS (A. Schild) and A. Michel. In 1950, no less than 65 manufacturers – among which ETA – had joined the group.

The self-winding Caliber 65 “Fontomatic”, introduced in 1959, was the most distinctive and innovative FHF product of the time, as it used a rotor running on a circular toothed arc at the movement’s edge rather than the usual central rotor mounted on an arbor. A few years later, this design inspired the creation of ultra-thin automatic movements by Jaeger-LeCoultre and Patek Philippe.

I actually had been looking for this in a Hilton, but when I was this at $49.99 in the shape it’s in, I had to get it.
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svaglic
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Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 11:00 pm

Re: Finally, a watch with the Fontomatic movement

Post by svaglic » Sat Jun 10, 2023 9:42 am

A lot of people liken it to the Citizen jet auto dater.
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I may look for one of these. Since I’ve been looking for the Fontomatic, people have suggested this to me. I just don’t know though. Perhaps at a good price I will.
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