ETA SA is a Swiss producer of mechanical and quartz watch movements. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Swatch Group. The company specializes in the production of ebauche movements which are used in a number of mechanical watches. ETA has owned several important Swiss watch movement companies including Valjoux, Peseux and Lemania, for a number of years . In fact the company is the result of successive consolidation of the Swiss watch industry. ETA manufactures quartz movements, hand wound movements and mechanical movements powered by self-winding mechanisms. Because ETA maintains vertical control over the manufacturing of all of the components required to create a watch movement, ETA may be considered a true manufacturer.

Workhorse ETA mechanical movements

In recent years there has been an increase in interest in mechanical watches. ETA supplies the overwhelming majority of mechanical watch movements found in Swiss watches.

ETA 2824

One workhorse of the ETA mechanical line is the ETA 2824-2, The 2824 is an automatic winding, twenty-five (25) jewel movement, available in four executions or grades: Standard, Elaborated (improved), Top and Chronometer. The ETA 2824 movement is used in many famous watches, including Rolex, Omega, even some replica watches use this movement. For example, view our Audemars Piguet Swiss replica watches and Bell&Ross Swiss replica watches collection.

ETA 2892

The ETA 2892 is however, widely considered the more upscale of the basic ETA movements, and it certainly a newer design dating to the 1970s where as the 2824 traces its roots back to the 1950s.

The 2892 (2892-A2) seems to have been given priority by making it more efficient. Its oscillating weight is better engineered with a larger support for the ball bearing races, which gives it better shock protection. It is almost always finished nicely with perlage and Geneva stripes. This movement is used by many high-end brands. Often, high-end brands like IWC, Girard Perregaux and Frank Muller will assemble the movements in house and replace some of the critical parts from the escapement to the mainspring to gain tighter tolerances. ETA uses the 2892 as the tractor for other movements like the 2893 with a second time-zone hand and the 2894 chronograph.

Valjoux 7750

The Valjoux 7750 is a widely used chronograph (stop watch) movement operated by cams integrated into the movement. The movement is an automatic winding, twenty-five (25) jewel movement, which can be fitted with a variety of features including the triple date (day, date, month and moon phase) or a variety of two and three register models with totalizers or counters for minutes, seconds and hours. It is available in three executions or grades: Elaborated, Top and Chronometer.

Last time, we gave a brief introduction of the mechanical movements and quartz movements. So here comes the question, which one is better ? Well, we at blog.progiftstore.com certainly have an opinion, but we are here to present you the facts.

Watches equipped with a quartz mechanism have their own advantages over mechanical watches. Let us stop at every advantage in particular:

1, Accuracy: Quartz watches provide more accurate timekeeping than mechanical ones. Their remarkable accuracy is reached through faster and steadier oscillations of a quartz crystal. As a rule, a quartz watch will gain or lose less than 10 seconds per month. In comparison, a mechanical watch is usually off by a few minutes per month.

2, No Winding: You will not have to wind a quartz watch. The only thing you will have to do when owning a quartz watch is to change the battery. A silver oxide battery lasts for two-three years. A quartz watch equipped with a long-life lithium battery will not require a battery-change for about a decade.

3, Light/Motion Powered: You will also come across a relatively new type of quartz watches with no need for battery replacement. The batteries of such watches get recharged by light, or by the motion of its owner’s arm.

Light enters a light-powered watch through its dial and is converted into electricity with help of a special solar cell found beneath the dial. As for motion-powered quartz watches, they are provided with a tiny rotor spinning is response to an arm’s motion and producing electricity.

4, Little Care: Quartz mechanisms are composed of fewer parts and are not subject to much stress. There is no need for lubricating and cleaning as in case of mechanical watches. Sometimes, however, dirt may cover the gears of an analog quartz watch, thus deteriorating its accuracy. In this case, it is necessary to have the quartz movement cleaned.

Compared with quartz watches, mechanical watches also have their advantages:

1, Reliability: The mechanical watch has a history attached to its name and make. Though, this can be true of a quartz, the battery is a slip. Battery lift is not predictalbe. A mechanical watch can withstand extreme temperatures, unlike a quartz watch.

2, Replacement parts: Replacement parts for mechanical watches are available, you just need to make sure that they are original. But when it comes to age-old quartz watches, the batteries would have become obsolete, which means, that old quartz watches are just matter of memories.

3, Mechanical watches can last longer: Apparently, mechanical watches can last longer, provided they are taken care of and serviced well. Also, if in good condition, a mechanical watch has a lot of resale value, it is an asset. A quartz watch on the other hand features electronic circuitry that has a limited lifespan.

Conclusion: For just accuracy, go for a quartz, for quality, class, precision and historic value, go for a mechanical watch !

A watch’s movement is the mechanism by which the watch measures time from instant to instant.

For example, mechanical watches break time into eight parts per second. A pallet arm clicks off a regulating gear every 1/8th of a second. The other major movement is the quartz, which relies on the peizoelectric qualities of its crystal base.

The following is a brief introduction to these two most well-known movements.

Mechanical watch movements

There are two types of mechanical watches: manual and self-winding (or automatic).

With a manual watch, the wearer turns the crown to wind the mechanism.

An automatic watch requires no winding by the wearer. Instead, movement is activated by a rotor which turns with regular movements and turns of the wearer’s wrist.

Mechanical movement begins with a pre-wound spring. The watch’s hands and other parts are moved by the regulated release of this spring which slowly discharges its energy under a mechanized control. The mechanism that controls the release of this energy has been engineered in a variety of ways which have been patented throughout history.

The sheer delicacy of this engineering is what makes mechanical watches at once both fragile and valuable. Since 1657, mechanical watch designers have calibrated these frail mechanisms specific to each watch model, considering temperature changes, day to day wear, demand for slimmer cases and the placement of gems and other embellishments.

Quartz watch movements

Quartz movements are activated by a quartz crystal that vibrates at a consistent pace when it is compressed – approximately 33,000 times per second. This naturally occurring quality of quartz makes it an excellent timekeeping component. This kind of movement is much cheaper to produce than the delicate human-engineered mechanical movement.

The accuracy of quartz movements is governed by the quality or purity of the quartz and its shape and cut. From this basis, digital readouts are built around seconds, minutes and hours, to give us the LCD display that is now so common. Quartz movement was discovered in the late 1960s.