broadbeach Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 Hi team....If I choose Swiss ETA 2836 over Asia 3286 movement (and pay approx. USD100.00 extra), without getting a watchmaker to dissasemble and check it for me on receipt, is there any other way I can check to see that the supplier has sent me the correct movement? Does a trusted supplier realy solve this problem? ... many thanks for any help you can give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
508-Fanatic Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 Ask for QC pics that show the movement's maker stamp, ETA has a unique stamp located on the base-plate. You'll have to trust that the TD is sending you an ETA shown in QC pics if the watch has a closed case-back. That said, most watchmakers will open the watch for you, check the gaskets and verify that it's ETA for a really nominal fee..less than $50 I would imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomhorn Posted February 17, 2015 Report Share Posted February 17, 2015 Chances are that even if the ETA stamp is there, it's not necessarily a gen ETA. When buying from a dealer (trusted or not), I would not recommend buying the ETA. At best you will get a Swiss movement that is from an old watch and needs to be serviced. At worst you will have paid the higher price for an ETA clone anyway. Better to buy the clone movement and save the money, IMO. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resistor Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Almost everyone will say to choose the Asian clones, and for good reason. Even if the dealer says a particular movement is Swiss, he'll either not be sure or you'll receive a piece of Swiss crap which has been run through the ringer, contain Chinese parts, or be a clone which was stamped as an ETA. The radiused baseplate on the Swiss ETA's used to be a hallmark of a genuine movement, but even that has been detected on clones. I always choose clones and my watches run great, without the added cost of a "Swiss" movement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droptopman Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Last few I have seen have the ETA stamp but were clones. I rarely buy anything from the TD's anymore, but if I do I would never pay the upcharge for the ETA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panerai153 Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 I agree 100%. The only way you can be 100% positive is to buy a movement from 1. A reputable seller here as M2M with plenty of good clear closeup photos, 2. Buy a brand new ETA from a reputable supplier like Ofrei, ST Cousins, etc., 3. Buy a NOS genuine watch or a new genuine that has a known ETA movement. I used to buy 2846 movements this way all the time, but these have pretty much dried up. And should you buy a movement from and old watch even if new, or an used watch, you should always factor in a service as part of the price. If you read some of the information here and on the internet, the supply of genuine ETA movements has really been choked off by the Swatch group, the owners of ETA. The Chinese rep manufacturers used to be able to buy bulk ETA movements (Trays of 50-100 movements) at good wholesale prices. those days are gone. If you get and ETA, which is doubtful, it will be as said above most likely cannibalized from and old watch, or a "franken" movement made up of some ETA parts and some Chinese parts . or worse, a movement that is a complete clone with ETA markings. Like most folks here, I don't worry about the movement that comes in the watch, some are good, some are OK, and some are awful. I'm not going to pay a premium for and unknown movement. What I do is first wear the watch to see if I like it. Some that you think you will like, never grow on you. others do. If it turns out that it's a watch that I plan to keep for a reasonable length of time, I wear until the movement starts to develop problems, then I decide, is this one really a keeper? If it is, I will try to find a replacement movement, either ETA, Sellita or in some cases a high grade Chinese movement like the Sea Gull ST2130 which for about half price is as good as the base ETA's if not a little better. I send my watch off to my watch guru and get the movement swapped out. I always ask them to evaluate the movement and if it needs a service, service it.What you end up with is a good solid accurate watch that will give you years of service. Another thing, when you get your watchmaker to swap the movements, take some photos ands save therm. also ask him to state that he has verified that the movement is what it is. Reason for this, if at some point you fall out of love with the watch, it's a good sales booster to have photos of the movement as well as a note from your watchmaker that the movement inside is indeed a genuine ETA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
508-Fanatic Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 You guys know a lot more than me, I stand adjusted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martijnp Posted February 18, 2015 Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 +1 on all above You guys know a lot more than me, I stand adjusted! There is so much knowledge on this forum. Learning every day from each other! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broadbeach Posted February 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2015 Thank you all so much for your kind input. For the layman it's certainly a confusing conundrum, but based on all your comments I'll now go with the Asian 2836-2 and save the additional US100...many thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alterego Posted February 20, 2015 Report Share Posted February 20, 2015 I totally agree with you. I have a few old school reps with Swiss ETA movements, which I always have taken for granted are "Swiis." I´ll take a closer look and see if that is the case or they Chinese Chinese clones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjjoyce1 Posted February 22, 2015 Report Share Posted February 22, 2015 Last few I have seen have the ETA stamp but were clones. I rarely buy anything from the TD's anymore, but if I do I would never pay the upcharge for the ETA. ^ This. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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