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I recently serviced my first Sellita movement, the SW 200-1 calibre. It was my very first Sellita movement, so it was a bit more exciting, especially since I could compare it with my experience of servicing and repairing several ETA movements, including the famous 2824-2. The first time I heard about this movement, it was described—and still is—as an ETA clone. The impression I got back then was that the SW 200-1 was a fairly decent and relatively inexpensive copy, though it didn’t quite reach the same level of quality as the original. After servicing it, however, I’m pleased to say that my overall impression is that Sellita's movement is at least as good and, in some aspects, even better than ETA’s. When I disassembled the movement, the only unexpected thing was that the cap jewels and pallet stones were somewhat overoiled. Whether Sellita or someone else was responsible for this, I don’t know. Regardless, the movement performed well, but after seven years of 24/7 use by the previous owner, it was time for a service. One thing I really appreciate about the Sellita SW 200-1 is how easy it is to pull the crown to its second position to set the date. There’s absolutely no risk of accidentally pulling the crown too far out. This, I believe, is an improvement introduced by Sellita. My memory of the corresponding function in ETA's movements is that it’s far too easy to overshoot, inadvertently stopping the watch when you only intend to set the date. In fact, it works about as well as on the Rolex calibre 3135, which is perfect in this regard. ETA’s 2824-2 has 25 jewels, while Sellita’s SW 200-1 has 26 jewels. I’ve long been curious whether this difference was simply a way for Sellita to outdo ETA in the jewel-counting competition. To my delight, this turned out not to be the case. The extra jewel is placed exactly where, in my opinion, it does the best: as a bearing for the barrel arbor on the barrel bridge. Very nice! It’s also my impression that the click spring is stronger in Sellita’s movements, to the point where it became a bit fiddly to fit the click itself. I think there’s a good reason for this. When the cogs of the winding pinion and sliding pinion begin to wear (which only happens when you manually wind the watch), the pressure from the click on the crown wheel (which can move sideways away from the ratchet wheel) needs to be high enough to prevent the teeth of the crown wheel from slipping over those of the ratchet wheel. This could result in the ratchet wheel losing grip on the mainspring (not good!). This issue only manifests when you wind the watch manually. I’ve written about this issue in this thread/post. In short, I believe Sellita has solved this problem by making the click spring stiffer. Another sign of good manufacturing precision is the wonderful feeling when setting the time. The play you almost always feel in the crown of ETA movements is almost completely eliminated. It’s not at all stiff, just very precise. What unfortunately doesn’t impress me is Sellita’s assembly instructions. However, the documentation, unlike ETA’s, includes several exploded diagrams with part measurements. Personally, I don’t find this particularly useful, although it’s a nice touch. As for the assembly instructions themselves, there’s certainly room for improvement. The documentation is not particularly easy to understand and contain a few outright mistakes, such as showing that the escape wheel bearing on the main plate should first be oiled with 9010 and then with HP-1300. ETA isn’t entirely free from this issue, but their documentation is significantly more useful. And, of course, there’s nothing stopping you from using ETA’s documentation, as both movements are built in exactly the same way. This is something I actually recommend if you’re not experienced enough to not need the documentation. All in all, I would recommend the Sellita SW 200-1 over the ETA 2824-2. Not least because spare parts are readily available for independent watchmakers, meaning owners of watches with Sellita movements can generally expect faster and cheaper service and repairs. This also means they’re not dependent on the Swatch Group, which owns ETA, as well as brands like Hamilton, Tissot, Omega, Longines, Rado, Certina, Mido, and others, and doesn’t sell parts to independent watchmakers. In this respect, it’s better to choose a watch that houses a Sellita movement from brands like Oris, Baume & Mercier, Maurice Lacroix, Christopher Ward, or Stowa, to name a few. Additionally, ETA has started using plastic in some of its movements, which, for me at least, is a red flag and something I struggle to associate with high-quality Swiss movements. Thankfully, as far as I know, Sellita's movements are entirely free of plastic. Thanks for reading!