ETA developed the 2800 family of movements from their ETA 2700 family, and the design dates back almost a century. It is a compact movement of 11.5 or 13 ligne and is easily serviceable and reliable. The ETA 2824-2 has become one of the most popular movements in the industry and is commonly found inside entry-level Swiss mechanical watches. With sales outside Swatch Group restricted after 2021, most today use the similar Sellita SW200 Family instead of ETA’s movements.
The 2800 family is different in design from the slimmer ETA 2890 family which descends from Heinrich Stamm’s mostly-unrelated Eterna 1466U. It is also substantially different from the contemporary ETA “Gabarit” 2850 series, though it does share a few components.
Distinguishing features of the ETA 2800 family include a larger balance wheel than many contemporary movements, including the ETA 2892, and a small rotor hub with a slotted screw and five visible bearings. The balance is located at 12:00 when viewed from the back with the crown at 9:00, and is located by a clockwise cock with an eccentric screw for regulation.
ETA places these movements in their standard “Mecaline” lineup. Currently-produced movements are indicated in bold in the table below.
Current ETA 2800 Family
The ETA 2800 family currently consists of six movements in production since 1982. They are compact but not particularly slim automatic movements operating at 28,800 A/h. The basic Cal. 2824-2 and 2836-2 are among the most widely-used movements in modern Swiss watches. Although over 5 dozen different movements in this series have been produced, just six are available today. Due to restrictions from Swiss COMCO regulations, ETA is unable to sell movements outside the Swatch Group since 2020. This has forced many watch makers to turn to the similar Sellita SW200 series of movements.
Calibres 2801-2, 2824-2, and 2826-2 are officially listed as “phased out” by ETA after 2021, leaving just Calibres 2804-2, 2834-2, and 2836-2 available for sale. This is in keeping with ETA’s focus on proprietary movements for Swatch group companies rather than outside customers.
| Calibre | Year | Diameter (mm) | Height (mm) | Jewels | Winding | Sellita Calibre | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETA 2801-2 | 1983 | 25.60 | 3.35 | 17 | Manual | SW210-1 | |
| ETA 2804-2 | 1982 | 25.60 | 3.35 | 17 | Manual | SW215-1 | Date |
| ETA 2824-2 | 1982 | 25.60 | 4.60 | 25 | Automatic | SW200-1 | Date |
| ETA 2826-2 | 2004 | 25.60 | 6.20 | 25 | Automatic | N/A | Big Date |
| ETA 2836-2 | 1982 | 25.60 | 5.05 | 25 | Automatic | SW220-1 | Day-Date |
| ETA 2834-2 | 1982 | 29.00 | 5.05 | 25 | Automatic | SW240-1 | Outer Day-Date |
ETA 2800 Family History
The first generation (with no suffix) was produced from 1971 through about 1979. The “-1” generation appeared in 1979 and was only produced until 1982. The “-2” generation appeared in 1982 and remains in production, though sales outside Swatch Group are limited by COMCO.
Some components of the 2800 series are shared with predecessor movements. The cannon pinion and crown wheel ring are the same as the ETA 2500 family (and was also used by the succeeding Gabarit 2850 series). The minute wheel, click, yoke, and setting lever springs, and minute train bridge are the same as the ETA 2600 series. The remainder of the parts were unique to this series of movements.
| Complications | Hand Winding Calibres | Automatic Calibres |
|---|---|---|
| 21,600 No-Date | ETA 2800 | ETA 2820 ETA 2839 (13”’) |
| 28,800 No Date | ETA 2801 ETA 2801-1 ETA 2801-2 | ETA 2821 ETA 2821-1 |
| 36,000 No-Date | ETA 2819 | |
| 21,600 Date | ETA 2802 ETA 2803 (13”’) | ETA 2822 ETA 2823 (13”’) ETA 2842 (OEM) |
| 28,800 Date | ETA 2804 ETA 2804-1 ETA 2804-2 ETA 2805 (13”’) | ETA 2824 ETA 2824-1 ETA 2824J2 ETA 2824-2 ETA 2825 (13”’) |
| 28,800 Big Date | ETA 2826-2 | |
| 36,000 Date | ETA 2806 ETA 2807 (13”’) | ETA 2826 ETA 2827 (13”’) |
| 21,600 Day-Date | ETA 2808 ETA 2809 (13”’) | ETA 2828 ETA 2829 (13”’) ETA 2846 (OEM) |
| 28,800 Day-Date | ETA 2810 ETA 2811 (13”’) ETA 2816 ETA 2816-1 | ETA 2830 ETA 2831 (13”’) ETA 2836 ETA 2836-1 ETA 2836-2 |
| 36,000 Day-Date | ETA 2812 ETA 2813 (13”’) ETA 2817 | ETA 2832 ETA 2833 (13”’) ETA 2837 |
| 28,800 Outer Day-Date | ETA 2834 (13”’) ETA 2834-1 (13”’) ETA 2834-2 (13”’) ETA 2838 (13”’) |
ETA 2800 Clones
Since the patents for the design are expired, there are a number of clone movements. Common ETA 2824-2 clones include the following:
- Ginault 7275
- Hangzhou 6301
- H.K. Precision Technology PT5000
- Landeron Swiss Movements L24
- Liaoning Peacock SL-3000/CL3000
- Sea-Gull ST2130
- Sellita SW200-1
- STP1-11
- Valanvron VAL-24