ETA/Unitas Caliber 6325

The Unitas caliber 6325 is a vintage manual-wind mechanical movement with a small seconds subdial at 6:00. It is like the little brother to the popular ETA/Unitas caliber 6498-1.

This caliber is often referred to as a Wehrmachtswerk aka military/army movement. It is typically found with 17 jewels, however, there are 21 jewels examples in the wild.

The Unitas 6325 is Swiss made and was produced by Fabrique D’Ebauches Unitas S.A. in Tramelan, Switzerland.

6325 Front and Back:

Unitas 6325 VS 6326:

There is a similar Unitas caliber 6326 with the main difference two bridges with a difference shape.

6325 VS 6498-1:

Upon first glance, the 6325 looks like a smaller version of the widely used ETA/Unitas caliber 6498-1. The 6325 has a 29mm diameter and the 6498 is 36.6mm. Both are handwound mechanical movements and feature a small seconds subdial at 6:00, but the beat rates differ. The 6325 has a beat rate of 21,600 vph vs the 6498-1 at 18,800 vph. If you’re timing these watches out, the lift angles are different as well: 49 degrees for the 6325 and 44 degrees for the 6498-1.

Please note that the image above is used to give an idea of the similarities in overall architecture of the two calibers side-by-side. Keep in mind that the 6498-1 example on the right is from a modern microbrand watch. Finishing and anti-shock devices vary between brands.

Watches with this movement:

The movement pictured on this page was found in a vintage BWG Swiss Courage timepiece produced in the 1960s.

You may see the term “Wehrmachtswerk” being used to describe watches with the Unitas 6325 movement. Watches with these movements go back to WWII, however, just because a watch has a wehrmachtswerk movement doesn’t mean it’s that old.

The Unitas cal. 6325 can be found in a variety of other vintage military watches as well. As for “wehrmachtswerk”, there are no direct English translations provided by Google translate. When breaking up the word as suggested by the translator, “wehr macht” in German means “fight back” or defense (at least according to Google).

Additional Images:

Additional Resources:

• More ETA/Unitas calibers