A. Schild Caliber AS 1475

The pictures posted here are of the A. Schild caliber AS 1475 found in a vintage Buren alarm watch. It is signed J.P. Pingouin. There are two crowns. The crown at 2:00 winds the alarm. The crown at 4:00 winds the movement and sets the time. You also set the alarm hand with the crown at 4:00 by turning it counter-clockwise. Then, to activate the alarm function, you pull the 2:00 crown out…pushing in to disable the alarm.

From PeterCDE:

The AS 1475 debuted in around 1954 and was made until around 1970. The first alarm movement by the well known AS factory which delivered movements to many many makers those days. The AS 1475 is a 11 lignes movement featuring a glucydur compensating balance, flat hair spring, 18.000 A/h beat rate, two barrels (one for the alarm, one for the watch), indirect centre second and 17 jewels. Reportedly a total of 780.000 movements was made.

There is also a similar caliber AS 1568 with the only difference being a date feature.

The AS 1568 is basically the same as AS 1475, but came out in 1956 and does have a date. The reported production total is about 149.000 movements.

Additionally, you may find two more calibers which beat at a higher 21,600 vph: the AS 1930 and AS 1931 with a date. Both manufactured into the mid-seventies.

According to The Watch Spot:

The original AS cal. 1475, easily qualifies as the world’s most widely used alarm calibre. Production started in 1954 and in its 16 year production cycle, more than 750,000 were made, some of which were re-branded for other watch manufacturers; Tissot, Benrus, Bulova and Girard Perregaux to name but a few… The AS 1475 was used as the basis for alarm calibres developed by other manufacturers too, such as Citizen and Poljot/Sekonda. The Poljot cal. 2612.1 found in the majority of Russian alarm watches is an almost identical copy of the AS 1475.

Please share your experiences and thoughts about the caliber AS 1475 in the comments section below…