Should you service an asian 2836-2? NO! A swiss, YES!

[mymanmatt]

This is just my opinion on the service of the 2 movements. The reason I give for not servicing the Asian movement is because of the quality of the parts. You can buy a brand new Asian 2836-2 or 2824-2 for around $100. A new swiss is around $220.  The main difference I see between the asian and swiss is the metal used. The quality of the metal used in the swiss is much better than the Asian. When I loop the asian parts I can see that the quality and finish of the parts is much less than those in the swiss movement. Things like the mainspring and tub, the gears in the train, the date corrector wheel, the hairspring, the yoke, the yoke corrector and so on. While you can certainly service the asian movement, by the time you get all the parts installed and put back together, you're approaching the cost of a movement. You certainly want to replace all the gears in the train, those cost around $20. The mainspring, depending on the age of the movement could be very weak, again because of the metal used to mfg. The mainspring assy is around $20. So now, if you put all those parts in, you're almost at the cost of a new movement, including the labor. I don't think I've ever seen a third wheel and pinion break on a swiss, but I've seen several on an asian. The quality of the metal used throughout the swiss movement provides years of trouble free service. While the asian movements of late have been greatly improved, and really perform well, they are still not on the quality level of the swiss. For the money, asian is still a great buy. However, if you have a major problem with it, just replace it. You'll be glad you did. That's my take on it.

[bobandshawn]

Although not in the same league as Matt, I concur based on just the economics (for those looking to others for service). Ebay regularly sells these asian movements for well under a 100 dollars (generally 80). Gen ETA 2824's can be regularly had for 170 dollars from one vendor I deal with frequently. When I was looking for a modder to service some of the problematic movements I had acquired over the years, one in particular (of dubious reputation) was asking over a 100 dollars just to service each. 

 

Seems these are almost becoming throwaways unless you can learn to do your own!

[irolexu]

As the old saying goes. You get what you pay for


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[automatico]

I agree with MMM.

 

My experience with etaclones has not been real good but I have c/o a few so they would run reliably (more or less).  The reason I work on (only my) etaclones is the total cost for c/o is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $5USD or less each if no parts are needed because I do it myself for $0 per hour (my usual profit after expenses).  Ha Ha. 

 

As far as paying someone to service one, imho the $$ would be better spent on a swiss eta.  The catch is many swiss etas you see today are a conglomeration of old dry, dirty, worn out parts put together to pass the 'swiss eta' test and imho (again) they are not usually worth the $$ and effort needed to rescue one...probably be better off to buy a fresh one to begin with.  I have put quite a few high mileage swiss etas together and they sometimes end up with parts from 2 or 3 different movements in them so if you do not have a few 'parts movements' you may spend as much on parts plus the basic movement as a new movement would cost.

 

Btw, one good thing about the flood of etaclones is the 'GMT' models (non adjustable, ics) have the same parts as used on Asian modified swiss etas 10 or 15 years ago and all the 24H parts will work on swiss eta 2836.  Some have good dwo too.

 

 

"Seems these are almost becoming throwaways unless you can learn to do your own!"

 

Sad but true.  Same story with Asian chronographs.  I took a Seagull ST19 (Venus 175 clone) apart before Christmas for c/o and I kept dodging the task of putting it together.  I finally got it together last Friday.  Nothing at all wrong with it except it was gummed up, I just do not like to work on them.  In reality, they are not that bad but the longer you put it off, the longer you keep putting it off.  Or something like that.

[SSTEEL]

I can also echo what MMM states, there is no comparison between Swiss, the Asian parts are so ill finished, and the so called jewels/rubies used in these Asian movements are inferior to those used in Swiss movements, I have even experienced these jewels almost melting in my Swiss cleaning agents when put through my four stage parts cleaner/drier.

[highoeyazmuhudee]

never owned a clone movement that worked properly. they also seem very sensitive to wear. the chinese can make great products if they put just a little more effort into it

[illustrations]

On 3/26/2017 at 2:36 PM, mymanmatt said:

This is just my opinion on the service of the 2 movements. The reason I give for not servicing the Asian movement is because of the quality of the parts. You can buy a brand new Asian 2836-2 or 2824-2 for around $100. A new swiss is around $220.  The main difference I see between the asian and swiss is the metal used. The quality of the metal used in the swiss is much better than the Asian. When I loop the asian parts I can see that the quality and finish of the parts is much less than those in the swiss movement. Things like the mainspring and tub, the gears in the train, the date corrector wheel, the hairspring, the yoke, the yoke corrector and so on. While you can certainly service the asian movement, by the time you get all the parts installed and put back together, you're approaching the cost of a movement. You certainly want to replace all the gears in the train, those cost around $20. The mainspring, depending on the age of the movement could be very weak, again because of the metal used to mfg. The mainspring assy is around $20. So now, if you put all those parts in, you're almost at the cost of a new movement, including the labor. I don't think I've ever seen a third wheel and pinion break on a swiss, but I've seen several on an asian. The quality of the metal used throughout the swiss movement provides years of trouble free service. While the asian movements of late have been greatly improved, and really perform well, they are still not on the quality level of the swiss. For the money, asian is still a great buy. However, if you have a major problem with it, just replace it. You'll be glad you did. That's my take on it.

Do the above quality opinions also relate to the Asia Clone 3135 Automatic Movement, 25J, 28800bph?  I was just wondering.

[SSTEEL]

The V2 3135 which is a Yuki, aka SH3135 should be fine to service, the V1 however I highly suspect not so much.

[s.adams8281]

I've bought a couple of reps from Josh. My first 2. They should be here any day. I'm going to try my luck with the Asian 2836-2. I have a gen Carrera Caliber 5 which is built of an ETA (the 2824-2) and it failed within the first 12 months of owning it. Luckily it was under warranty. Tag covered it and never told me the exact cause. They only mentioned replacing the movement in the paperwork. I say that to say that even Swiss is no guarantee. I've owned multiple Rolex, Tag and Seiko watches and only the Seikos automatics and my wife's air king have proven to be bullet proof. Although I will say that the only trouble I've ever had with a Rolex was a broken mainspring (cheap enough to fix).

 

Where can Asian 2836-2's be purchased outright ? Does anyone have a link ?

 

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[HorFan]

A2836 and A2824s can easily be found on EBay for $75 , some I've gotten even came with phony ETA markings.


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