Valjoux Cal. 5 KVM is a pocket watch column wheel chronograph movement. Introduced around 1912, it was produced through 1975. It featured a six-column wheel to control the chronograph function. The chronograph used a central seconds hand with a 30 minute counter.
This is a monopusher chronograph movement with a single button located 1/12 off-axis from the crown, clockwise. This places it at 1:00 when used in a pocketwatch, with the crown at 12:00, or at 4:00 when used in a wristwatch, with the crown at 3:00. This single button starts, stops, and resets the chronograph functions.
The Valjoux 19 ligne family of pocketwatch chronograph movements from Reymond Frères SA of Les Bioux, Switzerland includes many variations. The basic version (5 KVM or 551) uses a single pusher, while Cal. 5 2F has a separate reset pusher. There is also Cal. 9 KVR, with a rattrapante hand, and Cal. 24 KV, a simple timer. Many are commonly called Valjoux Calibre 19”’, as was common at the time.
- Valjoux 5 KVM – Standard version (also called Cal. 551)
- Valjoux 5 2F – Separate reset pusher
- Valjoux 8 KL
- Valjoux 9 KVR – Split seconds (“Rattrapante”)
- Valjoux 24 KV – Timer, split seconds
- Valjoux 555 – Flyback version
- Valjoux 62 KVC – Timer
- Valjoux 75 KVMR – Timer, with forward and reverse function
This is a “lépine” pocketwatch movement, with the small seconds placed on the same axis as the winding crown. In a pocketwatch, this would place the small seconds at 6:00 with the winding crown at 12:00. The image above would show its placement in a wristwatch, with the winding crown at 3:00 and the small seconds at 9:00.