Sellita Interview

[mzinski]

An interesting Q&A video with Sébastien Chaulmontet of Sellita in which he answers an assortment of questions about Sellita. Worth a watch, especially if you think Sellita is a just a subpar clone ETA.

 

[tomh207]

Watched that a week or so ago. It is really interesting and does rather clear up some of the myths.

 

Tom

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, tomh207 said:

Watched that a week or so ago. It is really interesting and does rather clear up some of the myths.

 

Tom

 

5 hours ago, mzinski said:

An interesting Q&A video with Sébastien Chaulmontet of Sellita in which he answers an assortment of questions about Sellita. Worth a watch, especially if you think Sellita is a just a subpar clone ETA.

 

Interesting interview. So most of the ETA movements that we see and work on were actually assembled in a Sellita factory. And when ETA pulled the plug on them in the early 2000s when Swatch started to devise their evil plans to take over the world. Sellita pulled up their big boy pants, grew some, invested some serious cash and developed parts manufacturing based on old Patent expired ETAs that they had already been putting together for over 50 years. Well done Sellita  

Just now, Neverenoughwatches said:

 

Interesting interview. So most of the ETA movements that we see and work on were actually assembled in a Sellita factory. And when ETA pulled the plug on them in the early 2000s when Swatch started to devise their evil plans to take over the world. Sellita pulled up their big boy pants, grew some, invested some serious cash and developed parts manufacturing based on old Patent expired ETAs that they had already been putting together for over 50 years. Well done Sellita  

Strange that nothing i have read about ETA has suggested that Sellita put their parts together for them, not by name anyway. I wonder why that is ETA ?

[watchweasol]

Hi probably that was because ETA thought they were bigger than the sum total of their boots.  I believe some Rolex models are assembled in China but I would bet that it is not broadcast to the world either.

[Neverenoughwatches]

1 hour ago, tomh207 said:

Watched that a week or so ago. It is really interesting and does rather clear up some of the myths.

 

Tom

It seems Sellita have been popping up all over the place for quite a long time, either by pushing eta out of brands they supplied such as Breitling or because eta have been pulling back of their own accord. It nice to hear this young man Sebastian mention a few times that their parts and movements are available to anyone that needs them. After all you purchase something, you should have the right to repair that purchase yourself. Whether its a hoover, a washing machine, a car or a watch. Restricting parts take away that right.

[tomh207]

Something I found interesting in it is that they design and build movements for companies. Pity they can’t name them because of NDA.

 

Tom

[gbyleveldt]

1 hour ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

It seems Sellita have been popping up all over the place for quite a long time, either by pushing eta out of brands they supplied such as Breitling or because eta have been pulling back of their own accord. It nice to hear this young man Sebastian mention a few times that their parts and movements are available to anyone that needs them. After all you purchase something, you should have the right to repair that purchase yourself. Whether its a hoover, a washing machine, a car or a watch. Restricting parts take away that right.

It wasn't a case of Sellita pushing ETA out, but the other way around. Brands like Breitling and Tag Heuer no longer had access to ETA movements so switched over to Sellita. In fact, I'm working on one right now.

You'll also notice the question asked about the chewed up ratchet wheel issue on the Sellita movements and Sebastian dismissing it as an issue that's been resolved "almost 10 years ago". Well no sir, I have a 2016 Seliita SW200.1 with a chewed up ratchet wheel right in front of me. Take a gander over at Cousins and you'll see that ratchet wheel is a "Best Seller".

Outside of that, I really do like the Sellita movements. Even on their base SW200.1 the main spring barrel arbour holes are jewelled - I can't remember that being the case on the ETA 2824-2 (although I haven't worked on one in a while)

[Neverenoughwatches]

5 hours ago, gbyleveldt said:

You'll also notice the question asked about the chewed up ratchet wheel issue on the Sellita movements and Sebastian dismissing it as an issue that's been resolved "almost 10 years ago". Well no sir, I have a 2016 Seliita SW200.1 with a chewed up ratchet wheel right in front of me. Take a gander over at Cousins and you'll see that ratchet wheel is a "Best Seller".

I read something about that, the tooth design was wrong, they supposed to have re engineered it and sorted on the 200.1.  Also beware of refurbished 200 and 200.1, indentified by a two letter code under the balance. 

[spectre6000]

9 hours ago, watchweasol said:

I believe some Rolex models are assembled in China but I would bet that it is not broadcast to the world either.

Not doubting you, and I'm certainly no Rolex fanboy, but I'm curious why you say this.

[watchweasol]

It was a statement I came across whilst perambulating the web some time ago, whether its true or not is a moot point, but I am sure if it is as I said it wouldnt be broadcast world wide for sure. Such information is usually gleaned from disgruntled personel through various means.  Many companies use the services of China and India to manufacture products under their name. An expose on TV showed that surgical instruments branded "Made In Germany" were in fact made in India in back street workshops. But EU law states as long as the steel was made in germany it was legitimate. an Independent tester found  up to 40% were not fit for purpose and were rejected on quality issues.

[LittleWatchShop]

So what is the deal with ratchet wheel teeth?  This is a problem with the Valjoux 72 as well ( I have one with a busted ratchet wheel that I will finally have the balls to service it next year).  Seems like an odd thing to make such a vulnerable wheel.

[gbyleveldt]

1 hour ago, LittleWatchShop said:

So what is the deal with ratchet wheel teeth?  This is a problem with the Valjoux 72 as well ( I have one with a busted ratchet wheel that I will finally have the balls to service it next year).  Seems like an odd thing to make such a vulnerable wheel.

Apparently Sellita modified the pitch of the teeth a little from the ETA design at the time. At least this is what’s going through the rumour mill; Sellita acknowledged there was a problem that they resolved in the above video but didn’t expand further. Personally I think it’s maybe a poor choice of materials for this specific part, as I’ve not seen this issue on any of the original ETA movements of the same design (even going back to mid 90’s ones). Your Valjoux 72 is muuuuch older so wear is to be expected. You wouldn’t expect it on a 2015 TAG using that Sellita movement. If I remember I’ll post some pics tomorrow.

[Sirius]

it is not a Rumour that Sellita modified the Weels, it is documented by Sellita

look here

https://www.google.ch/url?q=https://www.sellita.ch/scripts/calibres/images/IS%2005_Evolution%20calibre%20SW200%20vers%20SW200-1.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwig44XUqfX7AhVP4qQKHQw5DOwQFnoECAsQAg&usg=AOvVaw0QDdoNfkxEmBq3gOVDEgir

hope this helps a bit, i like Facts.....

 

regards,

Ernst

[gbyleveldt]

Thank you @Sirius. That document outlines the changes and updates between SW200 and SW200.1 done in 2008. I said “Rumour” because I’ve not seen confirmation officially, so thanks for pointing this out.

Thing is, the problematic one I have here is already an SW200.1 from a 2015 watch - so it would appear that the issue is still not fixed.

[mzinski]

4 hours ago, gbyleveldt said:

Thank you @Sirius. That document outlines the changes and updates between SW200 and SW200.1 done in 2008. I said “Rumour” because I’ve not seen confirmation officially, so thanks for pointing this out.

Thing is, the problematic one I have here is already an SW200.1 from a 2015 watch - so it would appear that the issue is still not fixed.

Lucky for you I believe Sellita dates its movements (at least mine for 2019, 2021, and 2022 are). Take a look next to the reference number to see what year your movement is from. 

Also, if the watch had been serviced at any point,  there a slim chance that part got replaced with a bad part. 

[nickelsilver]

13 hours ago, LittleWatchShop said:

So what is the deal with ratchet wheel teeth?  This is a problem with the Valjoux 72 as well ( I have one with a busted ratchet wheel that I will finally have the balls to service it next year).  Seems like an odd thing to make such a vulnerable wheel.

Valjoux 72/23 are known for losing teeth on the ratchet wheel. Not sure why, but there's a shortage of original replacements out there (I've made quite a few).

[gbyleveldt]

2 hours ago, mzinski said:

Lucky for you I believe Sellita dates its movements (at least mine for 2019, 2021, and 2022 are). Take a look next to the reference number to see what year your movement is from. 
 

Yessir, here's the specific movement. It's a late 2014 model, in line with being in a 2015 watch. This is the updated version so technically the ratchet wheel issue should've been resolved already.

And the offending rathcet wheel. New one on the left, shewed up one on the right

Just for the sake of clarity, I don't want people to think I dislike the Sellita movements - quite the opposite in fact. Like with any product there are some potential issues to be aware of so me carrying on about it is to merely create awareness of the issue. Sellita parts are much cheaper (and more accessible) than the ETA counterparts so in principle I'd support Sellita if given the choice. They're certainly not some mickey mouse company.