A incredible story about the find of historical important movements in a rubbish container…
I think all of us were travelling by car across the country using a highway, all of us stopped to eat.
Try to imagine you eat your meal and you see in front of you a car and person who throws boxes into a rubbish container.
After some time the car leaves , you finish your food and you go to this container to throw your rubbish.
You open this container and you see boxes … strange OLD boxes … Some are branded with LACO some with hand signatures.
It is clear it has something to do with production. You open a box, because you are curious… I think old boxes are interesting, isn’t it???
After you open this boxes you see old mechanisms, brand new never used old watch-movements, watch parts, signatures and dates from End of 1944.
What would you do ? First to save these things, just to show it to a professional, to get some information about what you found.
THIS EXACTLY HAPPENED IN THE AREA AROUND PFORZHEIM THREE YEARS AGO!
PFORZHEIM in 1945…
The end of the war was tragic for Pforzheim
During World War II, Pforzheim was bombed a number of times. The largest raid, and one of the most devastating area bombardements of World War II, was carried out by the Royal Air Force (RAF) on the evening of 23 February 1945. About one quarter of the town’s population, over 17,000 people, were killed in the air raid, and about 83% of the town’s buildings were destroyed. The town was thought by the Allies to be producing precision instruments for use in the German war effort and to be a transport centre for the movement of German troops. ( source Wikipedia )
These movements had been produced not long before this bombing and they were saved in an old Villa.
One year ago this old villa was sold, the reconstruction company was responsible to empty it.
Some of the dials and parts were made for the 55mm B-Uhr ( the big pilot ), and it seems the employee were thinking the dials are radioactive.
Because of the they throwed the boxes in a public container. The receycling of radioactive rubbish is exremely expensive… But they were wrong.
WHAT A LUCK FOR US …
Producer was LACHER & Co and DUROWE, some parts were made for the military pilotwatch ( B-Uhr ) and was delivered to the DEUTSCHEN LUFTWAFFE.
These movements and parts are saved now and can be used for production of special watches. The parts for the B-Uhr are offered as a sparepart kids.
The plan is to make somethig interesting , a watch made in Pforzheim with a movement which is made in Pforzheim and saved before the terrible bombing.
Now we are proud to offer this fantastic movements in our I16 - AVIATOR 1944. Please be reminded we have only a strong limited quantity and we are not abel to tell the exact qantity we are goint to make. In the first shot we will produce 25 pieces, after this we will continue till all available the movements are used.
LACO 523 (Durowe410)
Manual Wind
Subsecond
Technical Data
Diameter : 23,8mm
f=18000A/h
Power Reserve 40h
