I’m considering purchasing a couple micro brand watches that use the Miyota movement but also considering a Christopher Ward that has the Sellita movement. I’m sure the Sellita is a better movement, but in your opinion, is it worth spending an additional $400? Thx
Miyota 9039 vs Sellita SW-200
ryanborges
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I’m considering purchasing a couple micro brand watches that use the Miyota movement but also considering a Christopher Ward that has the Sellita movement. I’m sure the Sellita is a better movement, but in your opinion, is it worth spending an additional $400? Thx
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557 Posts
While I don’t own either, folks highly praise the Miyota 9000 movements. More robust than the SW200, they say and goes longer without service. I think the standard SW200 is also pretty similar in accuracy. So you get a high beat movement for cheaper. To me the only real con is the unidirectional auto winding, it’s noisier and maybe less efficient. For the same nicer micro brand watch, I’d much prefer pay a bit less and just have the Miyota 9k. More knowledge folks please weigh in 👍🏻
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I have watches with both. I’m quite impressed with the Miyota 9000 series. I think they offer a good value. I have some CWs too. I wouldn’t necessarily pay $400 more for an SW-200, but with the CW you’re getting more for your increased price than just the movement.
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Thanks, I was looking at the C60 Trident Pro 300.
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I've owned quite a bit of both. Despite the similar specs, the winding efficiency of the Miyota 90xx series is pretty terrible, and all the ones that I've owned did not make it through the night despite a full day of wear on my semi-sedentary life. One of my miyotas also froze at the same time every day despite full wind, and i ended up RMA'ing the watch to Baltic. The SW-200 never had those issues.
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I had the exact opposite experience. The SW-200 struggled to be fully would, and accuracy would fall behind by 10s of seconds over just a few days. Miyota 9075 stayed very accurate.
SW-200 hand-winding feels like crap, not so the Miyota
The last thing to keep in mind is that the Miyota 9xxx series is top of the line (unless you count some limited edition $10k watch Citizen puts out), whereas SW-200 is the inferior product. SW-300 is better in almost every way
In a heartbeat. Miyota looks like it was put together with a hammer.
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I recently bought 2 watches…one from 2007/08 with SW200 and one from 2022 with miyota…the older one with SW200 is more efficient at winding (losing time as I don’t know the service history,probably never been serviced…),while the 9039 often died in the morning even though I worn the watch the whole day before taking it off and place it on the table
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3,287 Posts
Have both, and both are OK, though I'm leaning towards Miyota 9039s as the watches that use them tend to be slimmer, and they don't suffer from the hand-winding weakness that Sellitas and ETAs do.
I definitely wouldn't base my choice of watch solely, or even mostly on the movement though, unless the watches in question were very similar in all other regards.
I definitely wouldn't base my choice of watch solely, or even mostly on the movement though, unless the watches in question were very similar in all other regards.
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I just bought a watch that has a Miyota 9011. It’s keeping good time and staying wound just fine.
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I have both movements, and both have been very accurate, running within +3 SPD or less. I haven’t had any problems with the watches not fully winding while wearing 3-4 hours, and then being able to make it through the night. One thing with the SW200, do not hand wind the movement. They are prone to problems with the ratchet wheel stripping. Just give it the
“Seiko shake” 20 to 30 times before you set the time and you should have no problems. For me, the extra $400 would depend on the watch. If it was the same watch, just a different movement, that extra money wouldn’t be worth it. Both are solid accurate movements and should give you years of service.
“Seiko shake” 20 to 30 times before you set the time and you should have no problems. For me, the extra $400 would depend on the watch. If it was the same watch, just a different movement, that extra money wouldn’t be worth it. Both are solid accurate movements and should give you years of service.
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Just go with the watch that YOU like and forget about the movement. I have owned (still have some) several SW200's over the years. To my surprise they have all been more accurate than the ETA. Never owned that particular Miyota, so can't comment. Other Miyota's I have owned have all been good. But, once again, choose the watch, not the movement.
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14,276 Posts
I've owned both. 9039 is durable and reliable. Microbrand owners who have dealt with thousands of these movements have said that Miyota's failure rate is like 1/10 that of Sellita's. That being said, Christopher Ward watches compete with those from legacy brands costing double the price.
My own anecdotal evidence from half a dozen or so SW200s is that at least mine have all been fine. The winding action is stiff and kind of unpleasant, but they are not any kind of luxury movement, despite being used in $3,000+ Tag Heuers and $5,000+ Breitlings, so I don't expect anything special from them.
You do not need to be scared to death to hand wind them. The fear that they're going to explode into a million tiny bits the second you turn the crown once at the winding position is wildly overblown. Yes, it's true that the 2824/SW200 winding train is weaker than the 9039's. Just be reasonably gentle with them.
Sellita SW210 is literally a handwound caliber. If you can't hand wind an SW210 without breaking it, what exactly are you supposed to do with it?
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All else being equal: absolutely not, no.
SW200 is not $400 better than a Miyota 9-series. In fact, many claim the Miyota is more reliable.
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Personally, I avoid buying anything with a SW200 due to the helicopter rotor issue that I have seen discussed in different venues. Is it a big deal or just overblown? I have no clue, but I have read about it enough times to avoid them entirely. I have at least one watch with a Miyota 9000 series movement, and it has never had an issue. So, for me, absolutely not.
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1,433 Posts
The SW210 does not suffer from the hand-winding fragility of the SW200. There are several reasons for that, starting with the fact that the SW210 cannot possibly have the helicopter rotor issue that occasionally afflicts the SW200, so hand-winding the SW210 will never involve the excessive force required to drive an auto-winding module, and continuing with the fact that hand-winding the SW210 goes through a 1:1 gear ratio that, in the SW200, is a 2:1 ratio implying smaller and more fragile teeth in the ratchet wheel, compounded by the fact that the SW210's ratchet wheel is steel whereas the SW200's is brass.
I used to prefer the Sellita, but it crapped out on me on a Christopher Ward Sealander and had to be sent in for repair. You could not hand wind it. Poking around online, I learned I was not the first person to experience this problem. By contrast, I have never had a problem with a Miyota, not even the 8000-series in my first generation Baltic sector dial watch. So, no, the Sellita is not worth more, I wouldn't say. If anything, I'm now scared off of Sellita-based watches and prefer Miyota ones.
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