Opinions on Asian 6497 vs ETA (Swiss) 6497

[pimsis]

Hi guys,

I know this has been discussed a lot of times not only on this forum but on the whole internet, but I cannot find 1 simple answer (maybe because there is no simple one). I would really like to know more on mostly experts opinions on an Asian 6497 handwound movement vs an ETA (Swiss) 6497 movement.

I found that one can buy an Asian for under 50$ and you can buy an ETA not under around 350$. I do know that the decorations on the ETA are better and that the Asian movements are made in not the best circumstances what can lead to dirt in the movement. But, after a complete cleansing of the movement, both movements perform the same. Is it just the fact that it says "Swiss" what makes them so attractive and popular?

I currently have an Asian 6497 handwound movement in my PAM372 from NOOB and it is absolutely wonderful. 40 turns and it has just under 40 hours of powerreserve. Can an ETA movement overpower that?

Thanks in advance for your insights.

 

[kilowattore]

I have swiss unitas 6497 in my builds that are 30-40 years old, maybe more, and once serviced they work flawlessly.
I can't say the same for chinese movements mainly because they have not been around that long.
For sure the chiese factories use lower quality metal, lower quality jewels and they take each possibile shortcut to lower their production cost, but the fact is the 6497 is a beautifully simple movement and it's design is so solid that I really have a hard time to justify the price difference vs a brand new eta except in very special builds. They just work well both. Most parts are a direct swap as well so if you're skilled enough you can fix a broken asian movement with swiss parts and it might make sense cost wise.

 

[pimsis]

I have swiss unitas 6497 in my builds that are 30-40 years old, maybe more, and once serviced they work flawlessly.
I can't say the same for chinese movements mainly because they have not been around that long.
For sure the chiese factories use lower quality metal, lower quality jewels and they take each possibile shortcut to lower their production cost, but the fact is the 6497 is a beautifully simple movement and it's design is so solid that I really have a hard time to justify the price difference vs a brand new eta except in very special builds. They just work well both. Most parts are a direct swap as well so if you're skilled enough you can fix a broken asian movement with swiss parts and it might make sense cost wise.

Sorry I didn't see your reply earlier. Thanks for this. I completely understand what you try to explain.