ETA Caliber 2836-2

The ETA caliber 2836-2 is a Swiss made automatic movement with 25 jewels. This movement is part of ETA’s Mecaline collection.

ETA 2836-2 Vs 2824-2:

The caliber 2836-2 is based on the ETA caliber 2824-2 with the main difference being that the 2836 has a day-date calendar complication and the 2824 is date only.

Setting the 2836-2:

• Position 0 – Crown in hand-winding position (running position). This can be against the watch case in watches without a screw-down crown, or in unscrewed position on watches with a screw-down crown.
• Position 1 (one click) – Quickset adjustment of the day and date. Turning the crown clockwise will advance the date. Turning the crown counterclockwise will advance the day of the week.
• Position 2 (two clicks) – Time setting position with hacking seconds.

Note: To avoid damaging the movement, do not attempt to set the date when the hands are between the hours of 9pm and 3am.

Note on hacking seconds: ETA refers to hacking seconds as “stop-seconds” and “fine timing devices”. It is interesting to note that on tech docs dated 2010, ETA lists this functionality as being optional. From 2010 until now, hacking seconds has become an increasingly popular topic of discussion, especially with affordable movements and microbrands entering the market. Although you may never come across a non-hacking ETA 2836-2, if it was made around 2010 or earlier, it’s quite possible that it was manufactured that way excluding the optional stop-second device.

Power Reserve:

According to ETA, it takes a minimum of 27 winds of the crown to fully wind the movement. The watch community seems to agree on 30-40 turns being sufficient to reach full power reserve. In contrast, when depending primarily on the rotor (oscillating weight) to wind the movement, it can take up to 1,250 turns or 1 hour and 30 minutes of the movement in motion.

Although the power reserve of the 2824-2 based movements, including this 2826-2, is widely known to be around 38 hours (for example, as listed in ETA tech sheets dated 2015), the official ETA website claims this caliber has a “typical power reserve” of 42 hours (as of 2021). Please comment below as to the power reserve you have experienced with your 2836-2 powered timepieces.

Rotor Text:

Different watches may may have a custom rotor depending on the brand, but the stock ETA 2836-2 rotor from the factory reads:

TWENTY-FIVE 25 JEWELS SWISS MADE

Drawings:

Replacement Prices:

As with most ETA movements, although the 2836-2 is unavailable from ETA, replacements can still be found online. At the time of this post, prices for a single replacement movement were found in the range of $250 – $270 USD. Try here.

Examples of watches with the 2836-2:

These are photos of the caliber 2836-2 found in this Swiss Legend Abyssos dive watch, 25 jewels with an Incabloc Novodiac shock absorber, and stamped: V8AL4 / 128.

Below is a 2836-2 in a Tissot watch. It has Novodiac shock protection.

COSC Model:

Pictured below is a 25 jewels COSC example of the ETA caliber 2836-2 found in a BALL Cleveland Express. 28,800 VPH, Incabloc shock absorber.

Additional Resources:

• Official specs from the ETA site