When talking about contemporary watches, companies generally use either in-house or off-the-shelf movements, the latter supplied by various manufacturers. Many high-end brands like Patek Philippe, Piaget, Rolex and Breguet can produce in-house movements that are optimized for their portfolios. A watch company is considered “complete” when it can produce its own movement, but many still rely on outsourced ones from large Swiss manufacturers like ETA and Sellita. Yet, the market has changed. A few established brands have decided to offer entry-range automatic watches and mostly, microbrands are all over the place, with the need to offer mechanical movements for accessible prices. Alternatives to the usual Swiss generic calibres have thus become crucial.

The time and expense to design and build an in-house movement isn’t a viable option for many smaller brands, and even major companies with their own movement production facilities also rely on off-the-shelf calibres for many models. It’s been this way since the dawn of watchmaking. Brands like Panerai and IWC have watches with outsourced ETA or Sellita movements, and some of these get modified to a point where they’re virtually unrecognizable. Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin had partnered with Lemania for chronograph movements (Lemania has since become an in-house producer for Breguet). The use of outsourced movements from ETA and Sellita allows brands to stamp their dial with the coveted “Swiss Made” designation, but there are several Asian manufacturers that produce off-the-shelf movements as well. These calibres are less expensive, more readily available and can be just as reliable and serviceable as their Swiss counterparts. Let’s take a look at the three most popular suppliers outside the watch bubble of Switzerland – Miyota, Seiko and Seagull.

temerityb wrote:I enjoyed it, too, but even bringing up the NH35A is kind of laughable. ETA and Sellita would never issue an auto with that hype of haphazard performance.