Venus 232

	Brand:	Vénus
	Family:	Venus 230 Family
	Height:
	Jewels:	17, 21
	Reserve:	35, 54 hours
	Frequency:	18,000 A/h
	Winding:	Hand winding
	Diameter:	28.0 mm (12.5 ligne)
	Complications:	Alarm, Date
	Hands:	Alarm Indicator at 9:00, Central Alarm Hand, Central Hour Hand, Central Minute Hand, Central Seconds Hand, Date Window at 3:00

Distinguishing Technical Characteristics
Hand-Winding Clockwise Balance Cock Screwed Balance Indexed Regulator Balance at 1:30 Barrel at 7:30
Production:  –
1910s	1920s	1930s	1940s	1950s	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	2010s	2020s

Cal. 232 (called “Alertic” by Vénus) is an alarm watch movement with date produced by Vénus in the 1950s. The popularity of the Vulcan Cricket spurred the development of other alarm watches including the Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox, Junghans Minivox, and A. Schild AS 1475 movement, and Vénus capitalized on this with Cal. 230. A similar movement, Cal. 230 or Cal. 231, was also produced, which lacks the date complication.

Unlike other alarm movements, Cal. 232 has a single barrel for both timekeeping and alarm functions. The alarm function is controlled using a second crown at 4:00: It is pulled out to enable the alarm, and set in neutral position to disable it. When the second crown is in neutral position, rotating the hands in reverse using the main crown drags the alarm hand backward to set it. Another unusual feature is a alarm setting indicator on the dial side of the movement, which typically displayed red/green or black/white through an aperture in the dial.

This movement measures 12.5 ligne in diameter (28 mm). It was offered with 17 or 21 jewels and operated at 18,000 A/h. The power reserve was 35-54 hours, though it was much shorter when the alarm was used. It features a central sweep seconds hand along with a central alarm time indicator hand and date window at 3:00. A short-interval parking timer version was also produced, which used a concentric disc under the dial and indicator at 9:00.

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