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A watch movement is the heart of a watch that provides power to make the watch and its functions operate. In this article we will introduce the main watch movement manufacturers in the world.

Since this is a complete guide, we will list the movement manufacturers from Switzerland to China. Whether you are a watch enthusiast or entrepreneur who wants to start your own watch company, you will be interested to know.

Let’s start from the Swiss watch movement manufacturers.

ETA

ETA is the world’s largest movement manufacturer of finished and semi-finished movements, and it can be regarded as the best watch movement manufacturer in the world. Its history can be back to the end of the 18th century. They produce automatic and quartz movements. ETA is formed by the merger and acquisition of multiple movement factories, including the famous Adolf Schild (AS), Valjoux, Unitas, etc.

Now ETA became a subsidiary of Swatch Group, and at the same time it has become the most important movement manufacturer in the world.

In 2002, Swatch Group announced that ETA will stop supplying external basic movements and components from 2006 (the Swatch Group’s own brand will not be included).

This announcement caused an uproar, because many watch brands have been using ETA movements for nearly 20 years. Therefore, some watch brands formed an alliance to sue the Swatch Group, accusing it of monopoly.

Finally, the Swiss Competition Commission and Swatch Group finally reached an agreement. The agreement stipulates that ETA will supply mechanical movements until December 31, 2019. In 2014 and 2015, ETA will supply 75% of the sales volume between 2009 and 2011, and this number will be in 2016 and 2017. To 65%, compared to 55% in 2018 and 2019″.

Therefore many watch brands start to produce their own movements or source alternatives to ETA, which we will talk later.

Sellita

Sellita was founded in 1950 and used to be a foundry for ETA movements, but since 2003, it began to develop its own movements.

Due to the relationship with ETA, the SW movement produced by Sellita is basically a “replica” of the ETA movement. Sellita’s movement has 5 series and dozens of models, but there are three main models: SW200 imitating ETA2824, SW300 imitating ETA2892, and SW500 imitating ETA7750. Since the supply of movements is not always consistent, some watch manufacturers explicitly offer models with ETA or Sellita movements, depending on the current market situation. 

Like ETA, Sellita divides the movements into four different grades for different consumers to choose from. Currently in Switzerland, Sellita is the largest replacement for ETA movements, and many brands have gradually switched to Sellita movements due to ETA stopped the supply to other watch brands. The quality of Sellita movement can be guaranteed. Because the key parts of its movement (hairspring, escapement) come from Nivarox which supply to ETA as well.

Brands like Hublot, IWC, Oris, Raymond Weil, Sinn, and TAG Heuer are amongst the brands that utilize Sellita’s movements or slightly modified versions to power their watches.

Soprod

Soprod was also a foundry manufacturer of ETA. They are good at polishing, plating, replacing high-end parts, superimposing functional modules. It is also a company that relies heavily on ETA.

At present, their own featured movement A10, which is a basic movement, is different from ETA and Sellita in terms of fine-tuning device and balance bridge. Therefore, you can easily recognize it from the design. A10 is mainly aimed at the ETA 2892 grade. All A10 movements are produced in accordance with the Top standards of ETA movements.

However, the annual output of Soprod movement is low which is about 100,000, brands like OWC, Sinn, Doxas use Soprod movements.

STP

TP stands for “Swiss Technology Production”. Opened in around 2008 and wholly owned by the Fossil Group. STP produces mechanical movements for both Fossil watches as well as a host of undisclosed third-party manufacturers.

In fact, the company known for fashion watches with quartz movements also produces mechanical watch movements.

The STP1-11 is the company’s base movement and has been engineered to fit anywhere a 2824-2 would, effectively making it a Swiss-made clone. STP headquarters is, in fact, a movement assembly facility, many of the movement components are produced by the Fossil Group or by other Swiss manufacturers, meaning that the STP family of movements is in compliance with the stringent “Swiss Made” standards in effect since 2017.

Some young brands like Sterglas and Zodiac watches are using STP movements.

Ronda

RONDA has been in the watch industry since 1946 and has continued to adapt their products as the watch industry demands, and known for their reliable Swiss quartz movements, announced the release of a new mechanical movement in 2016. 

With a history that spans back to 1946, they are a manufacturer that continually thrives to produce only the best and most accurate movements in the industry and their associations with so many industry kings proves they are doing something right.

They have designed over 30 brand new calibres with the majority of them being highly complex and at Baselworld 2016, they introduced the 11.5 inch R150 caliber which is widely used by luxury watch brands today.

Ronda watch movements are used by watch brands like TAG Heuer to Raymond Weil, Victorinox, Christopher Ward and Junkers.

These five manufacturers are the main player of Swiss watch movement manufacturers. And then the Japanese movement manufacturers, if you are wondering what’s the difference between Japanese movement and Swiss movement, you can read more there.

Miyota

Miyota’s full name is Citizen Miyota Co., Ltd., which is a movement manufacturer under Citizen and one of the world’s largest watch manufacturers.

The annual output of Miyota manufacturers is around hundreds of millions, and Miyota movements can be seen almost everywhere. The 9000 series movements are the Japanese answer to the venerable Swiss ETA 2824-2 and its variations, offering both high accuracy and superior reliability. It is also thinner than many other automatic movements, allowing for a thinner watch construction.

Brands like Fossil, Orient, Casio and DW watches use Miyota movements. 

Seiko

The “Seiko” name actually stands for a whole group of companies that traces its roots to the Hattori family watch business founded in the late 19th century. That being said, the subsidiaries are very diversified and in many cases independently run.

The Seiko subsidiary TMI – Time Module – is hardly a household name. Time Module markets Seiko movements to third parties and usually does so under designations that make specific attribution difficult. The TMI NH series of movements can be found in a number of legendary Seiko dive watches and is widely used by many watch brands due to its affordability and reliability. Ops is also providing custom watches with NH movements at a factory price but same quality as many micro brands.

Although undecorated and sparsely finished, the NH35A is a dependable workhouse movement that provides a good balance between budget, performance, and reliability.

Seagull

Seagull is a Chinese movement manufacturer in Tianjing. It has a long history of manufacturing watches and watch movements since 1955.

Their movements are widely used by many watch brands now, especially when Seagull 1963 chronograph watch, which is using ST 19 movement, becomes popular.

The ST19 series movement is a chronograph movement. The history of seagulls is very long and the manufacturing is very mature. The ST19 series movements are designed to imitate the Venus 175 movement. The column guide wheel chronograph designed movement, and the stability of the movement is very high. In general, the price of a clock using a column guide wheel movement in Switzerland will be around 15k dollars. However the price of ST19 is very aggressive which is suitable for micro brands.