Because ETA only focuses on the development of movements, they surely have higher standards when it comes to quality control. As a result, their movements boast accuracy, precision, reliability, as well as durability. ETA creates various calibres of diverse grades. Some of their watches are even COSC-certified chronometers.
watch eta movement
Unfortunately, the patent for ETA 2824 already expired. This allowed cloned versions or replication of the popular ETA movement. For instance, you have the Sellita Calibre SW200 and the Seagull Calibre ST2130.
In 2002, Swatch Group released a statement that threatened to stop selling ébauches to third-party companies. This means any brand not under the Swatch Group will never be able to use ETA movements on their watches. The market, of course, uproared with complaints that if they can no longer buy movements from ETA, they will go out of business.
Swatch Group ultimately got a bad rep for this as they appear to aim to saturate the market with only their products and eliminate any and all competitions. Due to this, the Swiss Competition Commission ran an investigation on the situation. It took many dreadful years before reaching an agreement in 2013.
In the agreement, Swatch may progressively lessen the number of ETA movements it supplied to third parties from the time of the agreement, until 2019. By 2020, Swatch may do whatever they please with their products.
ETA SA definitely holds immense power and influence in the industry. Similarly, an ETA movement maintains great power over a single timepiece. Every watch powered by ETA surely boasts impressive stats, to no surprise. While not everyone recognises the greatness of ETA movements, they will surely remain a force to be reckoned with.
The 2892 movement stays compact even if there are complex switching mechanisms and is the basis for intricate watches because of its thin appearance. This movement is typically used by Breitling, TAG Heuer, Longines and Omega, among others.
Not long ago, HODINKEE's Stephen Pulvirent published a story on common mistakes enthusiasts new to watchmaking can make, and which can and should be avoided (this, in turn, was a follow-on, from a different perspective, to Ben Clymer's story on the same subject from 2016). Such lists are quite interesting for a number of reasons, partly owing to the fact that making mistakes is probably to some degree unavoidable as one's tastes develop, in which case they are not so much mistakes as necessary learning experiences. Still, though, I think in both cases my colleagues made some excellent points, and there are certainly basic perspectives which, if adopted, will go a long way towards increasing one's enjoyment of wristwatches (or anything, really).
The reason I bring this up is to point out that with watches, as with anything else, there is a great deal that can and should be left up to individual tastes and the evolution of those tastes (or the absence thereof). However, it's also true that within any craft, whether it is distilling spirits, making furniture, or making watches, that there are certain standards which, when they have become expert consensus, have become expert consensus for a reason. Otherwise, connoisseurship would not exist because there would be nothing to learn. The answer to questions about qualitative standards is not, in fact, always, "it depends."
This brings me to a quite interesting point which a couple of commenters raised in reply to Stephen's story on mistakes for newcomers to avoid. At one point in the story, Stephen, in discussing the error of thinking that in all cases, an in-house movement is better, remarked, "Would I want a Lange 1 powered by an ETA with a module on top? Nope, not really. Am I intrigued by Patek Philippe slowly converting its chronographs over to new calibers developed in-house, replacing the Lemania-based movements they used for years? Yes, absolutely. But do I think any less of the Historiques Cornes de Vache because it does use a Lemania-based caliber? Not a chance."
In the comments following, someone remarked, "In the article, you wrote 'Would I want a Lange 1 powered by an ETA with a module on top? Nope, not really.' Are Lange 1's not in-house movements?" Another community member replied, "I think Stephen is just posing a hypothetical situation in this case. Although I would have liked him to elaborate more on the point: a Lemania-based Vacheron is okay but an ETA + module in an ALS is not? Where do you draw the line between the two?"
The movement of a watch is, fundamentally, a machine, and the most restrictive perspective is to judge it simply based on how efficiently it performs its task. If it's reliable, as precise as is necessary for the needs of the owner, and can be manufactured with a minimum of effort and expense, it should be something worth accolades. And it is on those points. But it is also a combination which sits lower on the scale of horological values than the caliber L951.7 in the Datograph.
On why an outsourced Lemania caliber is fine in the Cornes de Vache, there are a number of reasons grounded in the same generally agreed-upon set of criteria as to what constitutes an haute horlogerie movement. The reason, again, has little to do with whether or not the movement is supplied, but it has a great deal to do with what can be done with the movement once the kit is received from the supplier. The Vacheron caliber 1142 goes a very long distance from the base Lemania caliber 2310 (which is, in the interests of accuracy, now Manufacture Breguet, I ought to mention), and some of the journey is taken through some mechanical modifications, but primarily via all the work that is done to decorate the movement components and to adjust the operation of the movement so as to provide a pleasing tactile experience to the owner. Lower-grade chronograph movements can be a very mixed bag but, in general, if you compare the pusher feel between an ETA 7750 and the VC caliber 1142, or the Lange Datograph, you will have to conclude that there is no comparison. The finer chronographs offer a direct, tactile experience of beautiful precision machinery in operation. The 7750, by comparison, tends to require noticeably more force to push through the detent at start, stop, and reset, and the experience is not so much of an elegance on a continuum with the rest of the watch, as of a fundamentally mechanically sound mechanism being called on to do its duty.
Moreover, a fundamental aspect of evaluating a movement is that how well it is made, and what you can do with it from a fine adjustment and aesthetics standpoint, is far more important than the question of who made it. A high-grade movement, in general, will be one which not only can be adjusted to function more precisely than a lower grade one, it is also one which can aesthetically be brought to a higher standard as well. The VC 1142 has a sinuous beauty and a logical, harmonious relationship of part to part, as well as an intrinsic visual clarity, that lends itself admirably to being highlighted by traditional high-craft movement finishing. Mass-produced calibers, on the other hand, can be very visually satisfying as pieces of precision engineering, but they express little if any of the cultural craft context we expect as a minimum from an haute horlogerie movement. Due to the fact that saving costs in manufacturing is a priority, they do not, in their architecture, general layout, and execution, lend themselves to the exertion of the craft of movement decoration either.
The Valjoux/ETA 7750 may not be the last word in horological elegance but, it puts watches like the very classically appealing Detroit Watch Company M1 Woodward well within a reasonable and affordable price range.
I want to close, however, by making an appeal for understanding and even praising the role played by mass-produced movements like the 2892-A2 and the 7750. Not all movements are created equal, but they were never meant to be, and they were never meant to be evaluated by a single criterion or single set of criteria. (If I were to have added anything to either Ben or Stephen's story, it would have been, "Evaluating all watches as if they were the same watch.") The 2892-A2, the 7750, and other movements such as the entry-level automatics from Seiko are miracles in their own way as well. To be able to produce reliable performance and accuracy in such large numbers was a dream of the watchmaking industry for decades, even centuries, and it has not actually been all that long since the dream started to come true. A cheap movement at the low end, once upon a time, probably meant something like a single jewel pin-pallet mechanism which was impossible to service and which kept time poorly. A so-called cheap movement nowadays is made to a high level of precision and can be made to keep time with chronometer-grade accuracy.
A Lange Datograph is as much a statement of a kind of philosophy about watchmaking, and the perception of time, as it is anything else, but it is also one of a fairly rare number of watches which really aspire to that, both inside and out. The 2892-A2 might not satisfy the same aesthetic and performance criteria as, say, the VC 1142, but there is no reason whatsoever why it should not put a smile on an owner's face for reasons of its own.
The Tudor Ranger may be the historical sibling to the Rolex Explorer, but in the modern catalogue if you want the Tudor alternative to the beloved 36mm Rolex the Black Bay 36mm is your best best. While Tudor lists the movement as the T600 on the site, that is ultimately Tudor-speak for ETA 2824. With modifications not listed, and a standard power reserve of 38 hours, it is fair to assume it is a well regulated ETA 2824 in its original form. Speaking of the Rolex Explorer, the Black Bay 36mm actually bests it by having 50 metres more water resistance with a total depth rating of 150 metres. Price: $2950 USD
Below is a list of all the parts for the very popular movements: ETA 2801-2, ETA 2804-2, ETA 2824-2, ETA 2836-2, ETA 2834-2. This collection should give you a good reference for each ETA watch part number. 2ff7e9595c
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