AP Diver movement (Asian or Swiss)?

[squashlovernk]

Anyone want to comment or know the difference between the Asian movement in the AP Diver and the Swiss Sellita moveement? Is the Swiss that much more reliable and accurate or are they relatively the same? Just wanted to hear from others who might know more regarding the differences.

[mikellem]

I can't tell you the differences except I would go for the Swiss in the long run.

Plus they hare getting harder to get every few months...

MM

[dylan]

never have had an issue with these asian eta....i like saving the $$$

[atomic_doug]

The difference in price isn't that big, especially considering what an out-of-the-box ETA movement costs. Any watchmaker can work on ETA parts and the parts are much easier to come by. To wit, asking for a balance wheel for an ETA 2824 is easy and specific, asking for a part for an "Asian 21-Jewel automatic movement" is pretty vague.

Sellita may not have the big-name recognition of ETA, but they are still Swiss and they do take their Swiss-made bonafides seriously. With ETA scaling back their sales of movements, Sellita will become much bigger maker of movements, whereas in years previous, they've been more of a modification house (for companies like B&R and Oris).

It's not really about reliability or accuracy, as anything well-made is reliable and accurate; it's about reliability when it needs service. I know a lot of watch repairmen don't want to touch a rep, but a lot of them feel more inclined to service a movement they know rather than an unknown Chinese movement. (Then again, there are dozens of highly qualified watch repairmen who need the work.)

If you really like the rep and want to keep it long-term, you'll start thinking about swapping in a Swiss movement anyway, and the conversion isn't always trivial, in parts or in cost.

(To that end, I really do wish the rep makers would at least say Hangzhou 9312 or whatever they use instead of "Asian Unitas". )

[mikellem]

+1