- The technical details can be found on Ranfft’s website on the pages of the EB 1443.
This is a movement with central seconds and pin lever escapement. Pin levers are a cheap substitute to the jeweled Swiss lever escapement. They result in more friction and therefore shorter service intervals and less efficient energy use. As can be seen in the pictures below, the pin levers have an impact on the shape of the escape wheel teeth.
The movement has central seconds and a design with the fourth and centre wheels on the same axis directly driving the hands. This solution avoids any stuttering of the seconds hand, but has a price in terms of thickness. Comparing this movement to another hand-wound movement of the same diameter (23mm), the ETA/Peseux 7001, the 1443 with its 5mm is twice as thick as the 7001 (2.5mm)!
At this point, I am not sure I can recognize a great movement, but I can certainly recognize this one is poorly designed. Some bridges had no pins to stabilize them and the keyless works design was taken from lever-set pocket watches.
