Compared to the Slava Transistor, the story of the Chinese tuning fork watch sounds more like a spy era curiosity.

Legend has it that a US plane went down in China, and its panel clock based on the 214 accutron was then copied by the Tian Jin Chinese watch company. As they wanted to fit it into their watch cases they altered the design to include a “normal” setting crown at 3. As a result, this movement, although close to the 214, is not a direct copy like the Russian Slava.

The main features and characteristics are unchanged however : 320 teeth index wheel, 360 Hz tuning fork, same gear ratio and electronics.

If it’s true that the Slava’s coils assembly does not match the Bulova’s quality, the Tian Jin’s is really not good. Old glue or lacquer is almost always dried off and gone, and coils are almost always open.

Another Chinese tuning fork movement

While parsing the Chinese classifieds websites for tuning fork watches, I found another model. Its design is inspired by the Bulova 230 “Lady’s watch” caliber, although it’s quite a bit larger in size.

I was lucky enough to get one and fix it.

Here’s a thread on the Omega Forums about the Tian Jin :

https://omegaforums.net/threads/tianjin-dianzibiao-accutron-214-clone.114889/