Swiss versus Asian copy ETA

[jnkay]

Has anyone verified the authenticity of the movement in recently purchased "Swiss eta" reps?

I received my Swiss eta version GMT II-c last week, and with all the debate about our dealers possibly giving us Chinese eta copies advertised (and priced) as Swiss, I debated taking my watch to the watchmaker I use for verification. This especially after reading Chris's/Eurotimez post on how to tell the difference, which seemed to indicate mine is Asian. Then the watch made the decision for me when it stopped intermittently and allowed moisture to infiltrate the case. Interesting, since the watch was accurate to within 4 seconds a day until it would stop every third night for 5 or 10minutes, and because I never showered or swam with the watch, and the crown was screwed in tight.

So I took the watch in today for a quick exam. It should be noted that watch repair business I use mostly works on high-end watches and does a lot of restoration work, although the guy has seen his share of reps and doesn't discriminate against them. When I questioned the quality of the movement, he assured me it is an eta, and showed me some of the markings and indications (note: he had not dissassembled the movement). When I told him that the Asians are now convincingly counterfitting eta movements, he took pause and said he didn't see anything that would indicate to him it was not a swiss eta barring dissassembly.

So, until he gets back from vacation and can dissassemble the thing for overhaul, I still don't feel that I know for sure whether the movement is authentic. I'm also curious as to the quality of counterfit eta movements, and whether they can accommodate authentic eta parts.

On the definite plus side, he was seriously impressed with the quality of reproduction and detail that went into the GMT-IIc, not to mention what he thought was a bargain price for all this accuracy and its appearance of quality.

It would be interesting to see the results if everyone would verify the authenticity of their recently purchased rep movements. I'll post the final verdict in a couple of weeks when the movement will be dissassembled for overhaul.

Edited June 18, 2008 by jnkay

[freddy333]

I have not overhauled or disassembled my GMTIIC either. But I have opened the case & can verify that my watch does contain a genuine ETA movement. Nothing I can see on the pillar plate gives me any reason to suspect otherwise. The only 2 complaints I have, and this may be a clue as to why your watch took on moisture & intermittently stopped, is that the caseback & crown seals were neither new nor greased (which leaves the case virtually open to the atmosphere) & the movement does not appear to have been properly serviced before it was installed in the case. So I will definitely need to overhaul it in the near future. Fortunately, I never wear any of my watches in or near water & I replaced & greased the seals so, now at least, I know that the case is sealed against moisture & dust. But, as always, I would warn owners against wearing these watches in water unless you have had your watch professionally pressure tested.