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You are here: Home / Movements / Valgranges A07.L01

Valgranges A07.L01

Last Update: June 10, 2022

Brand:ETA, Valgranges
Family:
ETA Valgranges Family
Height:7.90 mm
Jewels:24
Reserve:46 hours
Frequency:28,800 A/h
Winding:Automatic, Central Rotor Automatic Winding, Clockwise Automatic Winding, Uni-Directional Automatic Winding
Diameter:36.60 mm (16.5 ligne)
  Complications:Hacking Seconds
Hands:Central Hour Hand, Central Minute Hand, Central Seconds Hand
Distinguishing Technical Characteristics
Central-Rotor Automatic
Clockwise Balance Cock
Etachron Regulator
Balance
Balance at 1:30
Central Rotor
Production: 2006 – Current
1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
Longines Cal. 699.2

Cal. A07.L01 is an oversized automatic time-only movement produced by ETA in the Valgranges family for internal Swatch Group customers, primarily Longines which called it Cal. L699. It was closely related to Cal. A07.111, which has the date complication this movement lacks.

Longines Cal. L699 was used in the Lindbergh Hour Angle and Weems watches, which were launched in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Cal. 699 is one of the only Valgranges movements remaining in production as of 2022.

ETA Valgranges History

ETA Valgranges Announcement, 2005

Then-new ETA president Thomas Meier announced the Valgranges family at BaselWorld in 2004. The name was derived from Valjoux, the historic movement maker behind Cal. 7750, and Granges, the site of production. Meier expected the Valgranges range to become a new “standard reference, like Valjoux, on which it is based, because this movement has a soul.” The 16.5 ligne (37.22 mm) movement was used in larger watches, with Victorinox Swiss Army being one of the first customers. The line was later adopted by Maurice Lacroix, MeisterSinger, Longines (using OEM names), Certina, Concord, and others.

Cal. A07.111 was the first shown, with the power reserve Cal. A07.161 and chronograph Cal. A07.211 following in early 2005. The final official family member was introduced later that year: Cal. A07.171 added a 24 hour function useful for dual timezone watches. All shared the same width and thickness, making it easy for watchmakers to add complications in the same line.

The Valgranges movements were used by quite a few companies both inside the Swatch Group and out, but they did not displace ETA’s more-popular narrow-diameter movements. Instead, given the constant threat of ETA restricting sales of movements, most switched to the Sellita versions of the primary ETA families: Sellita SW200 (ETA 2800), Sellita SW300 (ETA 2890), and Sellita SW500 (ETA 7750). Although other makers used the 7750 wheel train in non-chronograph movements (notably Habring2 and Naoya Hida), the Valgranges concept failed to catch on.

When ETA ceased offering mechanical movements outside Swatch Group in 2021, the Valgranges line were officially phased out. Proprietary movements for Swatch Group customers continued, but the Valgranges brand and website were withdrawn.

Images are taken from official publications and are used here for commentary and educational purposes. Copyright is held by the original owner as noted.

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