Internet wisdom suggests it's Chinese (they do more expensive models with Swiss movements, but this is advertised when present) , the text says 'mec movt', so mechanical movement.
Yeah, that's what I thought. For what they were selling for on the internet, I figured it had to be...you can't buy a swiss movment (uncased) for that money. Which isn't a bad thing necessarily, but you on some level you get what you pay for.
Essentially, it's a wristwatch movement that's been place into a pocketwatch case; they've done a nice job of it, although the sweep second hand is a bit anachronistic.
I'd be interested to know why you think that, it's not a continuous movement, the second hand moves at 4hz. Also, how does one tell the difference between a wristwatch and a pocket watch movement?
Your typical "pocket watch" movement (thinking of the ones made a hundred years ago) always had the seconds hand in a subdial at the 6 o'clock position. It was a practical thing; that arrangment allows you to drive both the second and minute hands directly off the gears without the need for any additional gears. Center sweep seconds requires additional gears, which means more moving parts, and thus more places for loss of precision and energy. There
were sweep second watches back then, but they were hideously expensive (and usually chronographs) and finicky. It wasn't until manufacturing methods improved in the early 20th century that it really became practical to mass-produce sweep second watches, and by then everyone was busy trying to make movements "thin", which delayed them further since the normal method of implementing sweep seconds increases the thickness of the movement somewhat. It wasn't until they fundamentally rearranged the design (putting the second wheel off-center) that they were able to make relatively thin center second movements.
As far as the difference between "Wrist" and "Pocket" movements, there isn't one. In fact, the original "wristwatches" just used small pocketwatch movements. Size is the main difference these days; your typical pocketwatch uses a 16''' movement (three ' marks indicate "lignes", the typical way to measure swiss movement sizes). Although the trend towards "big" wristwatches these days is changing that. Back in the day, pocketwatches used 19''' or bigger movements, and most wristwatches were 11''' or smaller. Most of that's just habit though. A watch is a watch.
When I say that its using a wristwatch movement, mostly what I mean is that its a center-second movement that is substantially smaller then the case. Usually, a good pocketwatch movement is the same size as the dial; this one is only as big as the inside(exposed) part of the dial; the rest of the case is filler or empty.
Yes, chain, box, and warranty that's not valid because it wasn't signed by the supplier (Amazon).
Get in touch with Amazon and get that fixed. The warranty is the only thing that makes these watches worth spending that kind of money on (I have a chinese skeleton watch, but I only paid $20 for it. If you paid more then that, you're paying for warranty. If you don't have warranty, you're getting ripped off). The movement in your watch retails for under $5.
The problem with Chinese mechanicals is that their quality varies greatly (which isn't surprising considering the low-cost labor force responsible for the machines and assembly). SO while you can get really really good movements, you can also get really really bad ones. My standard advice for these watches is to carefully time the watch over a 24hr period in several positions (for a pocket watch, time it both dial up and crown up). If the time is out by more then a minute a day in either position, return it for a refund and buy a new one. The watch will likely never run as well as it runs when you first buy it, so if it isn't running well then, get a new one. It might take a couple of tries, but you should be able to get one that does better then +/- 30 seconds a day very easily. When I bought mine, I actually bought two, and then disassembled both of them. I combined the "best" parts of both into a single watch that is good for an average of +/- 5 sec/day (or will be once I machine a new rotor for it; the factory one is just too light to keep it at full wind, which throws the timing off).
