Steinhart, a brand that used to rely on ETA movements, has now come out with their first in-house movement, the ST.5 caliber. To be completely honest, it looks like an ETA 2824-2 clone. They both have 28,800BPH and 25 jewels, hack, have a quickset date function and are 11 1/2''' in diameter. It appears to be very similar from what I have seen in regards to shape too, the only discernible difference is the finishing. Regardless, all the pieces are manufactured by Steinhart and design (to a certain extent) was thought up by Steinhart. This is their first step to becoming an independent and higher-end company, which their customers might not appreciate. Their market is based off of mostly "high-end" homages. The quality is equal to that of Hamilton in regards to materials and case finish. Raising prices, which is one downside of producing an in-house movement due to all the machinery and time it takes to design them, will most likely lower their popularity with their customers. I can assume however, that they will not stop using ETA movements altogether, but will slowly integrate their movement into the design. One of the things that they will not need to change is their case and movement rings. I am pretty sure this is the reason that they chose to make it the same size. But with this new movement (and we can assume prices), there will come a new urge to make more original watches and cut down on their reliance on homage designs. This movement may not be completely original, but it is the first step to becoming a higher-end brand and a more independent company. More information and pictures can be found on their website here: http://www.steinhartwatches.de/en/steinhart-st5.html.
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Jake Fogarty is the founder of It's All About Watches and writer for most of what you will read here. If you want to contact me you can visit the contact and advertising page.
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