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Have you ever noticed ...

that many vintage watch movements have 17 jewels. This includes our beloved Heuer Chronomatic movements, also of note the Valjoux 22, 23, 71, 72, 92, 7734, 7736 & i'm certain there are more.

Why 17 jewels ?

Well there was a higher tax on watches with more than 17 jewels in the USA in the 1960's. I ran across this piece of information whilst reading an interesting listing on TZ-UK about the variants of the vintage Omega Seamaster 300 ( an iteresting read should you want to check it out http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?227473-A-Quick-Guide-The-Omega-Seamaster-300-including-Military-watches ).

I wonder if this import tax classification influenced the initial design of the Cal.11/12/14/15 ?

- Darren

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