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Question re: 7750 Levels Of Quality

  1. Time Exposure coordinates his cast with his car's paint job Sep 5, 2015

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    Which watch manufacturer provides or provided the highest quality interpretation of the ETA/Valjoux 7750 chronograph movement?
    I know ETA sells the 7750 in Elaboré, Top, and Chronometre grades. I read that IWC used to obtain Top grade examples and re-work them with so many of their own parts it was hardly a 7750 anymore. That, and I think the 7750 served as the basis for IWC's Perpetual Calendar chronograph.
    I think Breitling offers chronographs with the chronometer status. Do they simply drop a chronometer-grade 7750? Or do they re-work it?
    Currently ETA modifies the 7750 to increase accuracy and stability, and increase the power reserve. They do this for Hamilton and I think Tissot. But as far as I know these improvements are on the Elaboré grade, not Top or Chronometre.
    What other brands have "improved" the 7750 significantly? And I'm asking specifically about the movement. Final cased product is too subjective to preferred styles (like I'm not a Breitling fan but can certainly respect the quality of their movements).
     
  2. ulackfocus Sep 5, 2015

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  3. ulackfocus Sep 5, 2015

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  4. Time Exposure coordinates his cast with his car's paint job Sep 5, 2015

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    Thanks for the quick response.
    I gather two things: 1) my question should be which watch companies buy the highest grade 7750 from ETA? 2) only ETA can truthfully answer the question, although somewhere there appears to be evidence suggesting it is IWC.
    I was not aware that ETA provided the upgrades for those companies that paid for them. Honestly this does not disappoint me. I think ETA makes a durable, reliable and accurate movement. I personally love the 7750, despite its being constructed to economy.
    I do not have a prejudice against non-in house movements like many WIS do. Frankly, I think a tried-and-true movement from ETA is possibly more reliable than some newly developed, unproven in-house movement, and likely way easier to have serviced.
    I can't say why I love the 7750 so much. There are better chronographs movements made (Zenith El Primero, Rolex 4130, and the former Frederic Piguet 1185 come to mind). Maybe because they are found in such a variety of models, from the affordable Hamiltons to the IWC GST Perpetual.
     
  5. Archer Omega Qualified Watchmaker Sep 6, 2015

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    The links provided by Dennis give some good basic information - few errors in there certainly but nothing terribly major.

    I've have often said that the ETA 7750 (in all grades) is generally the most accurate movement I work on. What I mean by that is that it rarely needs a lot of extra work (such as dynamic poising for example) to get very good timekeeping results. Usually just the normal balance spring and regulating pin adjustments done on every watch I service are enough to get accuracy that rivals any other watch that comes into my shop. It's going to be a good day when I have some 7750's to work on generally.

    The 7750 is a very versatile movement, and is used and modified for use in many brands and with many features. When you make statements like this though, I have to question what this really means:

    "I read that IWC used to obtain Top grade examples and re-work them with so many of their own parts it was hardly a 7750 anymore."

    To clarify, an IWC chronograph with no special features is no different really than any other 7750, aside from the specific decoration used. Certainly many brands take the 7750 and turn it into something completely different, so IWC is certainly not alone in that by any means with their perpetual calendar. Another obvious example is Panerai - they use a version of the 7750 with all the chronograph parts stripped off, and this provides them with an automatic movement that has the sub-seconds at 9 o'clock, which is a key design feature in their watches (they also completely redesign the dial side so the calendar is an instantaneous change, that than a semi-instantaneous change). My 104 uses this movement actually:

    [​IMG]

    Staying with Panerai for a minute, most certainly I would choose an ETA based PAM rather than get a newer in house movement model. I see so many complaints about the newer movements, that I would hardly consider any of them as reliable as a 7750 or 6497 is.

    Another modified 7750 is found in the MIH watch - the chronograph is moved to the back of the watch, and an annual calendar is added:

    http://mih-watch.ch/index.php?langId=2

    The 7750 has had column wheels added (Longines and Omega) co-axial escapements added by Omega, and so many other modifications. I suppose you could call me a fan of this movement certainly.

    It is robust, affordable, versatile, and accurate. Not sure what else you could really ask for in a mass produced movement at this level.

    Cheers, Al
     
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