ETA Movement Sales Halted
- logan2z
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ETA Movement Sales Halted
Surprised I haven't seen this posted anywhere...
https://watchesbysjx.com/2019/12/eta-sw ... comco.html
https://watchesbysjx.com/2019/12/eta-sw ... comco.html
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
I admit to being confused about who can and cannot purchase ETA movements for some time now (outside Swatch group companies).
- Aaron Shapiro
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Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
First they’re gone, then they’re back, the they’re gone...
"We'd better synchronize our watches."
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
^^^Seems like they've talking about it for ever. Like ever since I got into this over 10 years ago
- jeckyll
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Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
The never ending story
Last edited by jeckyll on Wed Dec 25, 2019 9:32 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- toxicavenger
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Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
one good thing is that they cry wolf that they did years ago basically made a lot of companies find different solutions before they actually cut off supply. now that ETA's are not as common place their actions mean a lot less imo.
Website: http://smallwhitestubbies.com/
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
Some brands, like Sinn, have moved away from eta, but others, like Stowa, might be in trouble. I'm not sure there's a suitable alternative for the eta 6498 models or manual wind chronos.
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
The article does say the ban does not apply to “small” brands which have less than 250 employees.
I’d be willing to bet nearly every smaller brand we can think of (Stowa, etc.) has less than that number of employees and is therefore exempt.
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
I believe this is likely the case, but I also agree that larger companies like Sinn have seen the writing on the wall long ago.Ryeguy wrote:The article does say the ban does not apply to “small” brands which have less than 250 employees.
I’d be willing to bet nearly every smaller brand we can think of (Stowa, etc.) has less than that number of employees and is therefore exempt.
It makes sense for Swatch Group to limit the ETA distribution to larger companies, as they can potentially be viewed as competitors, but Swatch obviously doesn’t feel threatened by the little guys.
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
I’m probably a bit foggy his morning from too much Christmas cheer last night, but I’m struggling a bit to name a manufacturer who will be effected by this ban.hoppyjr wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2019 7:44 amI believe this is likely the case, but I also agree that larger companies like Sinn have seen the writing on the wall long ago.Ryeguy wrote:The article does say the ban does not apply to “small” brands which have less than 250 employees.
I’d be willing to bet nearly every smaller brand we can think of (Stowa, etc.) has less than that number of employees and is therefore exempt.
It makes sense for Swatch Group to limit the ETA distribution to larger companies, as they can potentially be viewed as competitors, but Swatch obviously doesn’t feel threatened by the little guys.
I doubt Stowa or Sinn are larger than 250 employees. Most of these brands outsource their manufacturing (cases, dials, hands, etc.) and are simply designers, assemblers, and distribution personnel. They are all likely less than 250 employees.
I’m wondering if there are some quasi “major” non-Swatch brands who will be impacted due to buying ETA movements to be modified into their own “calibers”.
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
Any idea who produces Sinn components?
"We'd better synchronize our watches."
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
I believe they use primarily Sellita movements, with some ETA and some in-house modified calibers.aikiman44 wrote:Any idea who produces Sinn components?
They make their own cases and I think that’s very cool.
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
That is cool. I thought they outsourced the cases to a German case manufacturer (SUG), but I certainly could be wrong.
If they run their own machine shop, they very well could be larger than 250 employees.
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
Lothar Schmidt, along with Fricker and another individual, founded SUG a few years after he bought Sinn. I’d be curious to know if they are a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinn that supplies cases to them and others, or act as their own entity. Interesting how that might factor into the “250 or less” clause.Ryeguy wrote:That is cool. I thought they outsourced the cases to a German case manufacturer (SUG), but I certainly could be wrong.
If they run their own machine shop, they very well could be larger than 250 employees.
- Todd
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
You are correct, SUG is the case maker, but since it was founded by the same guy I consider it essentially in-house.Ryeguy wrote:That is cool. I thought they outsourced the cases to a German case manufacturer (SUG), but I certainly could be wrong.
If they run their own machine shop, they very well could be larger than 250 employees.
- logan2z
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Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
IWC comes to mind as they use the 7750 as a base in some of their chronographs. I'm sure there are other Richemont brands in the same boat.Ryeguy wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2019 8:10 amI’m wondering if there are some quasi “major” non-Swatch brands who will be impacted due to buying ETA movements to be modified into their own “calibers”.hoppyjr wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2019 7:44 amI believe this is likely the case, but I also agree that larger companies like Sinn have seen the writing on the wall long ago.Ryeguy wrote:The article does say the ban does not apply to “small” brands which have less than 250 employees.
I’d be willing to bet nearly every smaller brand we can think of (Stowa, etc.) has less than that number of employees and is therefore exempt.
It makes sense for Swatch Group to limit the ETA distribution to larger companies, as they can potentially be viewed as competitors, but Swatch obviously doesn’t feel threatened by the little guys.
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
Me toohoppyjr wrote: ↑Thu Dec 26, 2019 9:21 amYou are correct, SUG is the case maker, but since it was founded by the same guy I consider it essentially in-house.Ryeguy wrote:That is cool. I thought they outsourced the cases to a German case manufacturer (SUG), but I certainly could be wrong.
If they run their own machine shop, they very well could be larger than 250 employees.
- Todd
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
But there's an economies of scale issue. If they dont have large scale purchases, it might not be economical for them to make any eta movements. It might be cheaper to just shut down production. Sure they're allowed to sell to companies with below 250 employees, but they may choose not to.
From the article -
"And as a result, ETA foresees it won’t be able to sell any movements next year."
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
Too much money to be made by Swatch here. They may cut off immediate competitors but I’m guessing smaller brands will still be able to buy ebauches.
"A ship of war is the best ambassador." - Oliver Cromwell
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
If you read the article you’ll see that Swatch wants to continue selling the movements, it’s essentially the Swiss government limiting the sales as an anti-monopoly action. Swatch’s position is now 180 degrees from where it was 10 years ago.Cabaiguan wrote:Too much money to be made by Swatch here. They may cut off immediate competitors but I’m guessing smaller brands will still be able to buy ebauches.
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- rockmastermike
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Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
Re: Sinn......if they are below the 250 employee threshold then why would they use SW and not keep using ETA?
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
I think they began transitioning back when the word was out that Swatch would stop supplying ETA “period”. That obviously evolved, but Sinn at least appeared to be moving quickly so not to disrupt their own business. I’m just assuming, but it seems reasonable.rockmastermike wrote:Re: Sinn......if they are below the 250 employee threshold then why would they use SW and not keep using ETA?
Re: ETA Movement Sales Halted
I would guess a lot of the smaller brands that use Eta have less then 250 employees. This is a weird turn of events and surely will be overturned as it doesn't make sense.
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