Swiss Movements ETA vs. Sellita
Today, we’re going to take a look at the two titans of off-the-shelf Swiss movements – ETA and Sellita.
Swiss Movements ETA
ETA is the world’s largest movement manufacturer of finished and semi-finished movements, and it can be regarded as the best watch movement manufacturer in the world. Its history can be back to the end of the 18th century. They produce automatic and quartz movements. ETA is formed by the merger and acquisition of multiple movement factories, including the famous Adolf Schild (AS), Valjoux, Unitas, etc.
Now ETA became a subsidiary of Swatch Group, and at the same time it has become the most important movement manufacturer in the world.
In 2002, Swatch Group announced that ETA will stop supplying external basic movements and components from 2006 (the Swatch Group’s own brand will not be included).
This announcement caused an uproar, because many watch brands have been using ETA movements for nearly 20 years. Therefore, some watch brands formed an alliance to sue the Swatch Group, accusing it of monopoly.
Finally, the Swiss Competition Commission and Swatch Group finally reached an agreement. The agreement stipulates that ETA will supply mechanical movements until December 31, 2019. In 2014 and 2015, ETA will supply 75% of the sales volume between 2009 and 2011, and this number will be in 2016 and 2017. To 65%, compared to 55% in 2018 and 2019.
Therefore many watch brands start to produce their own movements or source alternatives to ETA, which we will talk later.
Swiss Movements Sellita
Sellita was founded in 1950 and used to be a foundry for ETA movements, but since 2003, it began to develop its own movements.
In 2002, Nicolas G. Hayek announced that ETA would stop delivering, warning the competition that he wanted Swatch Group to focus on its own brands. A settlement with the Swiss Competition Commission, the COMCO, ruled a step-by-step reduction of deliveries. This, in turn, led other companies to speed up the integration of movement production, with differing success rates, or seek other off-the-shelf movements. Manufactured by companies such as Sellita, clones of ETA movements, whose designs were in the public domain, were perfect options (it was easy for brands to switch from ETA to a clone without changing much to the rest of the watch) and, as such gained popularity. They allowed brands to switch easily and economically from one supplier to another and ensure continuity.
Due to the relationship with ETA, the SW movement produced by Sellita is basically a “replica” of the ETA movement. Sellita’s movement has 5 series and dozens of models, but there are three main models: SW200 imitating ETA2824, SW300 imitating ETA2892, and SW500 imitating ETA7750. Since the supply of movements is not always consistent, some watch manufacturers explicitly offer models with ETA or Sellita movements, depending on the current market situation.
During the intervening years, Sellita developed and introduced a wider range of movements, listed below.
⦁ SW 100 (based on ETA 2671)
⦁ SW 200 (based on ETA 2824)
⦁ SW 220 (based on ETA 2836)
⦁ SW 240 (based on ETA 2834)
⦁ SW 300 (based on ETA 2892)
⦁ SW 500 (based on ETA 7750)
The component structures of these movements are generally similar, but the main difference is the number of bearing gems.
Like ETA, Sellita divides the movements into four different grades for different consumers to choose from. Currently in Switzerland, Sellita is the largest replacement for ETA movements, and many brands have gradually switched to Sellita movements due to ETA stopped the supply to other watch brands. The quality of Sellita movement can be guaranteed. Because the key parts of its movement (hairspring, escapement) come from Nivarox which supply to ETA as well.
Brands like Hublot, IWC, Oris, Raymond Weil, Sinn, and TAG Heuer are amongst the brands that utilize Sellita’s movements or slightly modified versions to power their watches.
ETA and Sellita, The Giant Supplier of Swiss Movements
Many different Swiss movements occupy the market, but none are as ubiquitous as the calibres from Sellita and ETA. Unlike other Swiss brands that create watch calibres for their own timepieces, Sellita and ETA are known to make their movements for other watchmakers.
