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For watch enthusiasts, the three letters E, T, and A carry a very special meaning: after all, they stand for one of the most important companies in the global watch market. The movements made by ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse tick not only inside the company's own watches but also in those of numerous other renowned manufacturers.
Top Swiss Quality Since 1793
Now part of the Swatch Group, the company looks back on a history of more than 200 years and is based in Grenchen in the Swiss canton of Solothurn. Watchmaking has a long tradition in this town. Among others, the watch brands Breitling, Certina, Eterna, Titoni, and Fortis are also headquartered here.
ETA in its present form emerged from the mergers of several companies. Its "nucleus" was the watch factory Benguerel & Humbert, founded in 1793 by four master watchmakers in Fontainemelon.
Today, more than 8,000 employees at 20 different production sites work for the three-letter brand, making movements and watches prized worldwide for their precision and reliability. The lineup comprises three series of mechanical movements (Mecaline, Mecaline Specialities, and Mecaline Chronographes) as well as five series of quartz movements (Thermoline, Flatline, Normflatline, Trendline, and Fashionline).
Only a Few Manufacturers Build Their Own Movements Entirely In-House
Making movements is not only technically demanding but also poses an economic challenge that should not be underestimated. This is mainly because certain parts, such as hairsprings, can only be produced cost-effectively in large quantities. That is why many manufacturers – Chanel or Fortis, for example – forgo developing their own movements and instead use ébauches supplied by specialists in the field.
Today, only a relatively small number of manufactures could produce without ébauches or parts from ETA. These include, for example, A. Lange & Söhne, Girard-Perregaux, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Nomos Glashütte, Omega, Rolex, and Zenith. Yet for the reasons mentioned, even these brands rely at least partially on ETA products in some cases. Some customers buy complete movements that they can fit directly into their own watches. Other companies, by contrast, purchase movement kits that they then rework, refine, and in some cases enhance with additional functions. This is the approach taken by Nautische Instrumente Mühle in Glashütte and by DEPA Uhrwerke, for example.
Well-Known ETA Series and Calibers
The Mecaline mechanical series comprises eleven different movements, including two hand-wound pocket watch calibers. 
All of them are simple movements without complications. In this series, the wristwatch movements beat at 28,800 vph. The best-known Mecaline movement is probably the caliber 2824-2, which has earned the nickname "tank" for its robustness and reliability. This automatic movement is one of the most widely used in the world and has already been produced by the millions.
It is offered in four grades: Standard, Elaboré, Top, and Chronomètre. Other important calibers in the series are the 2671, an automatic movement with central seconds, date correction, and hacking seconds; the 2836-2, which additionally features a day display; and the 2834-2. The latter is an automatic movement with the date at 3 o'clock and the day displayed on the outer edge at 12 o'clock.
Valjoux 7750: A Success Story for Over 40 Years
The Mecaline Chronographes series includes a total of seven mechanical chronograph movements, four of them Valjoux models. The best known is the Valjoux 7750, launched back in 1973 and produced virtually unchanged ever since. 
Arguably the most popular automatic chronograph movement ever made, it can be found in such famous models as the Breitling Navitimer, the Omega Speedmaster, the TAG Heuer Carrera, the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph, and the Junghans Meister Chronograph. It features a 60-second, a 30-minute, and a 12-hour counter, two pushers, a small seconds, and a date and day-of-the-week display. Its sister model, the Valjoux 7751, has a similar layout but shows the date by means of a hand, while the day and month appear in apertures on the dial; this movement also features a moon phase display.
When You Want Something More Complicated: Mecaline Specialities
The Specialities series comprises a total of 14 different movements, each equipped with special complications. These include, for example, movements with an additional 24-hour display or a second time zone, as well as movements that show the wearer the power reserve on the dial. Particularly noteworthy are the three Valgranges calibers, which are based on the successful Valjoux 7750 chronograph caliber and have been available since 2004. Incidentally, the name alludes to Granges, the French name for Grenchen, where the manufacturer is based.
Different Grades on Offer
Each caliber is offered in four different grades: Standard, Elaboré, Top, and Chronomètre. So it is entirely possible for a relatively affordable watch to contain the same caliber as a high-priced luxury model – although the latter will then use a correspondingly higher grade.
The grades differ in several respects. First and foremost is accuracy. Further differences concern the number of regulation positions and of jewels used, as well as the materials of the balance wheel and hairspring.
The highest grade is designed so that watches fitted with such a caliber can be certified as chronometers.
Movements for Quartz Watches
Numerous watch brands also use ETA calibers in their quartz watches. Many models from well-known Swiss manufacturers such as Tissot or Certina, for example, rely on a quartz movement from Grenchen for precise timekeeping.
In the wake of the quartz crisis, ETA began as early as the 1970s to retrain its own workforce for quartz movement production through dedicated in-house training programs, and to supply these movements to other manufacturers on a large scale. A particular success was the Swatch watch, which has retained its cult status to this day – and every one of which contains a quartz movement made by ETA.
