Movement record · Switzerland

Landeron 48

Partially verified

A cam-and-lever (shuttle) chronograph rather than a column wheel, designed for simpler and cheaper manufacture and adjustment, and supplied in very large numbers across the mid-century chronograph trade.

Technical specifications

Diameter: Approx. 29.8 mm
Height: Approx. 5.8 mm
Jewels: 17 typical
Frequency: 18,000 vph (2.5 Hz)
Power reserve: Approx. 40 hours
Winding: Hand wind
Setting: Pull-out crown
Escapement: Swiss lever
Balance: Monometallic balance on later production
Complications: Chronograph with 45-minute register, Subsidiary seconds

Identification features

Cam (shuttle) instead of a column wheel under the chronograph bridge
Landeron marking on the movement on many examples
Register capacity commonly 45 minutes rather than 30

Known variants

Landeron 51
Landeron 148 and related later cam chronographs

Servicing notes

Simpler to set up than a column-wheel chronograph but still specialist work; worn cam and lever surfaces are the usual source of poor pusher feel.

General guidance only. Antique movements should be serviced by a qualified watchmaker.

Historical significance

The calibre that made the chronograph affordable, and the reason a large proportion of surviving mid-century chronographs are cam-operated.

Diagram

Schematic: plate and bridge layout. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

Swiss ébauche trade catalogues
Production dates are approximate; the calibre family overlapped heavily with its successors.

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.