Seiko, Ball Watches, and Oris were always three of the more popular watch brands among collectors and hobbyists. This popularity was not so much due to the popularity of the watches themselves, but because of their popularity with other brands.
In the watch collecting blogosphere, Ball Watch is one of the most frequently mentioned brands. There are a number of reasons for this but one of the main ones is the fact that Ball makes great movements.
Omega’s Seamaster and Seamaster Planet Ocean watches and Seiko’s Astron watch are some of the nicest watches in their respective price ranges.
After buying one of these beauties you might find yourself in a dilemma. The watch is a pleasure to wear and you might not want to take it off because you are so proud of how awesome it looks. You might not find it to be a problem at first, but some people find that the stainless steel case starts to rub their wrist raw after a while.
This happens because these watches are not made for continuous wear. They are made to be worn on special occasions and to give their owners some pleasure while doing so. Think of them as an investment in happiness and feel good about taking them off every night.
Seiko and Ball are both parts of the group that owns the ETA brand and have been using ETA movements in their watches for a long time. There are a number of Ball watches that are powered by ETA movements but on this list, I have chosen to only include watches that are powered by ETA’s new movements.
The ETA 2836-2 is a pretty good watch to start with. It is based on ETA’s flagship movement, the 2836. The 2836 is a very robust and reliable movement and it keeps good time. The -2 is the version used in watches that are meant to be water-resistant to at least 100 meters. This is probably the most important feature of the 2836-2 for a lot of people because it makes it possible to enjoy this movement in some of the most beautiful watches.
The next one on the list is the ETA 2892-A2. Before it was branded as the 2892-A2, it was used in Omega’s Seamaster line. It was not as popular with Seiko because it was too thin to fit all of the components needed for the automatic winding and it also was not as accurate and robust as the 2836-2. ETA had to make some modifications to the movement to make it ready for use in the modern world but it is now a favorite among watch lovers.
The ETA 2824-2 is the predecessor of the 2892-A2. It is simpler, less accurate, but also less expensive. It is still popular with a lot of watchmakers and is used in Ball watches as well as a lot of watch brands.
The ETA caliber 2824 is a more modern movement and was introduced in the late 80’s. It has not been used in many watches but it is one of the most accurate quartz movements in the world.