HELBROS ELECTRIC PORTA ELECHRON PUW1000 1969
Presented here is the first electric watch by Porta Uhrenfabrik Wehner of West-Germany fitted into a Helbros. These reliable and nicely built PUW1000 calibres can be found in the Porta Elechron (maybe also Zentra) sold on the local German market. Cheaper watches with the same movements can be found in some American private labels. They were made for a short time and were soon substituted by the newer upgraded transistorized version 2500.
The movement is very well built with nice finish and with a battery holder that is fixed with a small screw (although it is not used in this particular model with battery hatch on the caseback). The contact wire and balance with moving coil are pretty robust and similar in design to Timex/Laco. The only difference are the huge ferrite (black) permanent magnets which could have been easily reduced in size if a more expensive magnet type would be used. Compare them to the smaller (silver) platinum-cobalt magnets found in most other electric watches. The contact wire is not fixed to the balance assembly thus there is no need for extreme precaution when removing the balance (unlike the following 2500).
Keywords: porta electric, elechron,
puw, helbros electric
Market value: 10-100$ (brand, condition)