Britix Triple Date Chronograph - Landeron 57

Today we have a look into the service of a Britix triple date chronograph, although the brand name can come up from time to time it is unusual to find them with both the triple date and the chronograph together. 

The Britix brand was founded in 1932 in La Chaux De Fonds but also later opened a factory in Lengnau in 1945. The brand name was later changed to Apex-Britix and as well as their own brand of watches they also produced watches under the names of Accurist, Festal, Naxe, Augusta and Aventica. The brand has been associated with the likes of Breitling but this is more speculation and not concrete evidence , if you should find an ebay listing stating an association as definitive then take it with a pinch of salt and not gospel. During the last years the Britix brand was changed once again to Jaquet & Girard of Biel, however beyond this i have found no records and assume the Quartz Crisis had finished them off for good.

It seems a shame now to think that such great companies no longer exist, but fortunately some examples of their work can still be found. Although not a massive and well known brand some examples can command a reasonable price with rarer examples costing a little more.
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This particular example arrived in not working condition but did not seem to be overly worn and so some tlc should bring it back to good order. The movement used in this case is the Landeron Calibre 57, whilst the smaller cal 48/51 is more commonly seen this is a nice rare example of one of the more complicated calibres produced. The date functions are controlled by various levers and springs which can be adjusted swiftly using the casing bezel as we shall later see, this bezel has a hidden blued steel catch which pushes each lever in turn to change the various date wheels. 
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Landeron Calibre 57

Bezel removed with the movement after unscrewing levers and case screws

Now visible is the simple click/catch which changes the date functions during rotation

Date complication, additional features with simple design, beautiful.

Follow below for images taken during strip down, photos may not always be in exact order but im sure you can get the picture :)
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With the movement cleaned it was time to rebuild and lubricate, there was some wear and tear present which would later prove to be troublesome but nothing that could not be overcome. Sorry no rebuild pictures but it is a reasonably straight forward process of reversing the procedure, of course with some exceptions but you get the jist :) 

Main movement complete and running, tested prior to chrono assembly

Timing shows a pretty strong signal with a healthy result :)

Main movement complete with chrono assembly, time to finish the date side parts

Watch all back together, with some new hands to replace the worn out ones.

As with many watches of this sort of age wear & tear takes its toll and in this case the chrono pinion as well as the 30 minute pinon are both worn so original hands do not reset to zero correctly no matter how well applied. With some searching i manage to find some suitable hands that should do the job for a while longer, finding these was more challenging than servicing the movement but such is the way of things.
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The watch now complete is ready to return to the owner, it may be a little worn but it has had a good life and been well used by those who loved it. Hopefully it can be enjoyed once again as these gems won't be around forever :)

​Next up, IWC TCZ....