Unitas Eta Caliber 6497 Vs 6498 Difference

ETA Unitas Caliber 6497 VS. 6498

 

Unitas Eta Caliber 6497 Vs 6498 Difference

What is the difference between ETA/Unitas caliber 6497 and 6498?

Both movements are based off of pocket watch movements. Both movements are found in many modern day pilot/flieger watches. Both movements were introduced in 1950 and are still being manufactured today. This is only one major difference…

Caliber 6497 Caliber 6498
Origin Swiss made Swiss made
Year Introduced 1950 1950
Diameter 16.5”’ (36.5mm) 16.5”’ (36.5mm)
Height 4.5mm 4.5mm
Jewels 5/17 15/17
Power Reserve 46-50 Hours 46-50 Hours
Beats Per Hour 18,800/21,600 vph 18,800/21,600 vph
Date? No No
Hacking? No No
Crown Counterclockwise to set time Clockwise to set time
Regulation Etachron Etachron
Anti-Shock System Incabloc (or none) Incabloc (or none)
Small Seconds Location 9:00 6:00

keepthetime-468-60

 

 

The major difference between the Unitas/ETA caliber 6497 and caliber 6498 is the location of the small seconds subdial.

Sub seconds placement, that’s all folks!

Imagine these watches as the were intended: as pocket watches. The 6497 would be in a Lépine (open face) pocket watch with the crown up. The 6498 would be the movement in a hunter style pocket watch with the crown to the right. Both would have the seconds at the 6:00 mark, but changing the crown position by 90 degrees would change the seconds position as well. When used on a standard wristwatch, this gives two options for the seconds placement when designing the dial.

Part Interchangeability

There are some differences in parts as well. This was outlined by lysanderxiii on wus:

The 6497-1 and 6498-1 (same for the -2) do not share commonality in the following parts: (all others common)

  • Mainplate
  • Barrel Bridge
  • 3rd Wheel
  • 4th Wheel
  • 4th Wheel (no second pinion)
  • Stem
  • Set Lever
  • Setting Lever Jumper
  • Yoke (-2 variants only)

Which one is more popular?

Do you know of more pilot watches with the small seconds at 6:00 or 9:00? It seems that there are more 6:00 subdials out there, making the 6498 more popular. However, with that said, you may find that more listing mix these movements up and list most watches as having the 6497 without actually knowing the difference. Hopefully this post will change that!

What is the difference between calibers with “-1” or “-2” at the end?

Click here to read more on that.

Have you noticed any other differences? Please comment below.

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Omega Caliber 2211 Watch Movement | CaliberCorner.com
6 years ago

[…] Read more: Differences between the 6497 vs 6498 […]

trackback
ETA Unitas Caliber 6497-1 VS. 6497-2 Watch Movement | CaliberCorner.com
6 years ago

[…] Further Reading: Difference between caliber 6497 VS 6498 […]

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ETA Unitas Caliber 6498-1 VS. 6498-2 Watch Movement | CaliberCorner.com
6 years ago

[…] Further Reading: Difference between caliber 6497 VS 6498 […]

trackback
ETA/Unitas Caliber 6498-2 Watch Movement | CaliberCorner.com
5 years ago

[…] The caliber 6498-2 is often mixed up with the ETA/Unitas 6497-2. The main difference between these two calibers is that the 6498 has the seconds subdial at 6:00 and the 6497 has the seconds at 9:00. Click here to learn more. […]

Krisztian Olah
Krisztian Olah
5 years ago

Both movements are 6497 on the picture, just the right is rotated 90°.

trackback
4 years ago

[…] steel) 42mm case diameter 22mm lug width The movement is an ETA Unitas 6497/6498 manual wind. ( ETA Unitas Caliber 6497 VS. 6498 Watch Movement | CaliberCorner.com ) These are pocket watch movements that were repurposed to wristwatches when they started to get […]

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ETA/Unitas Caliber 6497 Watch Movement | CaliberCorner.com
4 years ago

[…] ETA/Unitas 6497 VS 6498 […]

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Weiss 42mm Standard Issue Field Watch – Beans & Bezels
3 years ago

[…] is my first encounter with an ETA 6497/ETA 6498. I’ve usually avoided watches with this movement because they’re often 42mm in diameter […]

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ETA/Unitas Caliber 6497 Watch Movement | Caliber Corner
2 years ago

[…] Swiss made mechanical manual wind movement with 17 jewels. This movement is often confused with the ETA/Unitas 6498. This caliber is one of the most popular hand-wound mechanical movements in the watch industry. The […]

MARK WOLFSON
MARK WOLFSON
2 years ago

I have an Elgin “Swiss” sized 10 pocket watch from the early 60’s that has the Unitas 6497 movement. And the watch has the seconds sundial at 6 o’clock. What say you?

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ETA Caliber 6497-1 Watch Movement | Caliber Corner
1 year ago

[…] ETA 6497 VS 6498 […]

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