What is a jump hour watch? A standard watch displays time while the hands are rotating over a dial with hour and minute markings around it. The "jump Hour" watch displays time through a small window with actual numbers. The numbers are located on movable discs which move as the mechanism moves. It should be noted that hour markings, positioned on the edge of the rotating circle, jump in the window while the minute circle moves in a continuous fashion. The internal hour disc moves continuously as well, however, just before the full hour is completed, one spring pushes on the actuating triangular lever which then jumps in a space between two cogs and causes the sudden turn or "jump" of the hour disc on which the numbers are located on. According to available data, the first wristwatch with digital time display is attributed to prestigious watch making company Audemars Piguet which launched such a watch in 1921. It is interesting that the trend for jump hour watches repeats every forty to fifty years – twenties and thirties, then in the seventies. Today they are becoming more visible again. The 1970s saw a massive rise in the popularity of the jump hour watch. That particular decade saw a major economic downturn and people moved away from watches as "status symbols" towards watches as statements of individuality. It was during that time that skip hour watches became popular with their innovative and space age designs. Pictured here is a vintage 1970’s Orion Digital 2000 Jump Hour Men's Watch. It is a rare piece that houses the original wind up Swiss Made Baumgartner 582 caliber movement signed: “Basic watch one jewel un-adjusted Swiss Made 21`600 a/h calibre : bf 582 Comments are closed.
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Old Time WatchesI enjoy collecting mechanical (manual wind and automatic) and early electric and quartz timepieces. I take great pleasure in researching and writing about the companies and people that created these beautiful watches. PF
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September 2018
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