ETA 2824-2 Auto vs Unitas 6497 manual

[Fortitudo Dei]

Hi team,

I'm thinking about purchasing a Glycine Incursore. I've always wanted
an oversized watch and the Incursore seems to fit the bill without
having to pay the high price of a Paneri or some such extravagance.

They are available with either an ETA 2824-2 (25 jewel) automatic
movement, or a Unitas 6497 (17 jewel) manual movement (I think now
also made by ETA).

I don't have any great preference between manual and auto and would be
happy to go either way, but I would be swayed if one movement were
regarded as being considerably superior over the other. So how might
the quality of these two movements compare? Naturally without knowing
the degree of finish, I suspect it's like comparing apples with pears.
But assuming they are finished to the same standard, if anyone has an
opinion on how these of these movements might rank against each other,
I'm all ears.

Thanks.

[Scott A. Ekleberry]

The Unitus is good, but go with the 2824-2, that is the one Breitling uses
in some of their watches and it seems fairly accurate.

--

Scott A. Ekleberry-Watchmaker
It's About Time! Watch Repair
www.itsabouttimeonline.com
sae...@woh.rr.com

"Fortitudo Dei" <Fortit...@hotmail.com.remove> wrote in message
news:3e39da79.21142522@news...

[lsdm]

Keep in mind the Unitas is also a pocket watch movement which ETA has
modified to fit into a wristwatch case. Many manufactures are now using both
of these movements so the consumer can decide between a regular or oversized
piece.

Cheers,
Dave

"Fortitudo Dei" <Fortit...@hotmail.com.remove> wrote in message
news:3e39da79.21142522@news...

[Andrew & Jenny Skinner]

My incursore has the ETA movement. Worn it looses about 2 seconds a day,
crystal up it gains about 5, so taking it off about one night in three has
so far meant it is pretty much accurate.

Andrew

[Richard J. Sexton (At work)]

The Unitas is an old pocketwatch movement and is one of the finest
and most accurate and robust handwound movements ever made.

In article <jNm_9.74786$i73.18...@twister.neo.rr.com>,

--
Richard Sexton | Mercedes Parts: http://parts.mbz.org
http://www.mbz.org Mailing lists: http://lists.mbz.org
250SE/C 300SD Mercedes Classifieds: http://ads.mbz.org
2 x 280SE Watch list: http://watches.list.mbz.org

[Jack Denver]

Either movement will provide good results. The Unitas is a more rare than
the ubiquitous 2824, so if you get one you won't feel like you are wearing
the Chevrolet of watch movements. OTOH, the 2824 is common for a reason -
it is a sturdy, inexpensive, convenient engine. I suspect that both
movements are finished to the same degree by Glycine, which is not much
given Glycines moderate pricepoint, not that extra finishing would be
anything but cosmetic given that both these movements should be quite
accurate in base form. So it really comes down to whether you want an auto
or a handwind. To me, if you really intend to wear a watch every day, you
can't beat an auto for convenience, even over quartz watches (except perhaps
solar). If OTOH, you only wear the watch occassionally or in rotation, autos
are a pain in the *ss or you have to buy a winder, which are stupid in my
book. If the watch is one among many, might as well get the handwind.

Theoretically, at least, autos retain their water and dust proofing better
than handwinds because you can screw down the crown and leave it screwed
down 99% of the time, vs. a handwind that has to opened daily or rely on a
non-screwdown crown. OTOH, the auto mechanism is one more thing to break and
handwinds are simpler to service as well.

"Fortitudo Dei" <Fortit...@hotmail.com.remove> wrote in message
news:3e39da79.21142522@news...

[dAz]

On Sat, 01 Feb 2003 01:27:06 +1100, Richard J. Sexton (At work) wrote:

> The Unitas is an old pocketwatch movement and is one of the finest and
> most accurate and robust handwound movements ever made.
>

the 6497 a 16.5 ligne movement, that makes for one chunky wrist watch!

http://www.ofrei.com/page206.html
http://www.timedesign.de/uhrwerke/unitas_6497.html

[Richard J. Sexton (At work)]

>> The Unitas is an old pocketwatch movement and is one of the finest and
>> most accurate and robust handwound movements ever made.
>>
>
>the 6497 a 16.5 ligne movement, that makes for one chunky wrist watch!

I wouldn't call it chunky. A speedmaster is chunky. The Unitas powered
Glycine deserves to be called nothing less than fucking huge.

[dAz]

On Sat, 01 Feb 2003 09:52:19 +1100, Richard J. Sexton (At work) wrote:

>>> The Unitas is an old pocketwatch movement and is one of the finest and
>>> most accurate and robust handwound movements ever made.
>>>
>>>
>>the 6497 a 16.5 ligne movement, that makes for one chunky wrist watch!
>
> I wouldn't call it chunky. A speedmaster is chunky. The Unitas powered
> Glycine deserves to be called nothing less than fucking huge.

LOL!, the Seiko 7k auto date I have on now is 36mm dia which is big
enough for me, that Glycine is 44mm dia, yeah BIG!

[Jack Denver]

The current fashion for giant size watches is just that - a fashion. In a
few years, these watches will look ridiculously outdated. The human wrist
has not changed in size and anything over 40 mm is too big unless you are a
giant. The oversized pilot watches of WWII were meant to be worn on the
outside of a flight jacket, not on a bare wrist.

"dAz" <da...@nonspam-zip.com.au> wrote in message
news:3e3b2880$0$27993$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...

[No One]

Since ETA makes many different grades and variations of it's 2824, I highly
doubt you will get the same exact movement you'll see in a beitling, but it
should be similar.

"Scott A. Ekleberry" <sae...@woh.rr.com> wrote in message
news:jNm_9.74786$i73.18...@twister.neo.rr.com...

[Andrew & Jenny Skinner]

I thought (being new to all this) that the differences were to finish, not
function...

Andrew

[Tony Basso Profundo]

I've got both. I have two 46 mm Incursores, one with a black dial on a
leather strap and the other with a blue dial on a bracelet. Both are
powered by the ETA 2824-2. I also have a 44 mm Incursore with a black
California dial, sub seconds at 9:00 powered by the Unitas 6497. They are
all 3 very well made. I removed the back from the 44 mm to tweak the
regulator (it ran slow on the wrist). The Unitas movement fills the entire
case, but is unfinished and undecorated. The 46 mm's have display backs and
the movements appear to be marginally polished and reworked compared to the
44 mm. The 2824-2 movement is quite a bit smaller than the case and is held
in place with a large spacer, which is not visible through the display back.
With the back off, the 2824-2 looks a bit disappointing, because it is quite
tiny compared to the large case.

All three watches are approaching 3 years old and they keep time within +2
sec/day when worn. They seem to gain about 5 sec/day off of the wrist. I
wear the blue 46 mm more often than the other two because I like the overall
looks of the watch and I like having a calendar window.

If I could only afford one watch, I'd buy the 46 mm auto because of the
calendar, screw down crown, and 200 m water resistance.

"Fortitudo Dei" <Fortit...@hotmail.com.remove> wrote in message
news:3e39da79.21142522@news...

[No One]

Yeah you'd think so, but they put different grade parts in different grade
2824s.

"Andrew & Jenny Skinner" <ski...@getridofthis.summerfld.demon.co.uk> wrote
in message news:b1igpf$csn$1$8302...@news.demon.co.uk...