Sellita Caliber SW215-1

The Sellita SW215-1 is the main competitor to the ETA caliber 2804-2, but with an additional 2 jewels. Official documentation for this caliber was found dated as far back as 11/14/2014, with updated made 9/20/2018. As of 11/2024, the SW215-1 appears to have been removed from Sellita’s catalog.

Many reputable watch companies are using this movement as an alternative to the ETA mechanism due to it being more economical and readily available.

You may have seen this movement written as the SW-215 but according to Sellita, the correct way to spell this caliber number is SW 215-1 and SW215-1. On their site, they refer to it as SW215-1, but on tech sheets and the movement itself, they write “SW 215-1”.

Editor’s note: Unlike the SW200-1 which was an update to the SW200, it appears that Sellita may be starting their newer calibers with the -1 designation. This is good because watch sellers and even watch brands often don’t realize the misinformation they are spreading when they say their SW200-1 watch has an SW200 – technically they are different movements and even have a few different parts. By starting the SW215 line with SW215-1, future confusion will hopefully be avoided.

In Sellita’s own words:

“Manual winding version of the SW200-1, the SW215-1 is striking notably for its slimness (only 3.35 mm with date and central sweep seconds), reliability and robustness. Just like the SW200-1, the SW215-1 comes in many versions, including numerous small complications.”

Finishes:

The caliber SW215-1 is available from Sellita in 3 different finishes: Standard, Refined, and Tailor-Made.

Standard Finish – Bulk sand-blasted and nickel plated. Options include engravings, blue screws, rhodium plated, gold plated.

Refined Finish – Bridges with Geneva stripes, main plate with circular graining, snailed crown-wheel, snailed ratchet, and rhodium plated. Options include engravings, blue screws, snailed barrel, gold plated.

Tailor-Made – Custom based on customer specs.

4 Grades of SW215-1:

Just like the the popular automatic caliber SW200-1, there are four grades of the SW215-1 manual wind movement:

• Standard – adjusted in two positions; accuracy of +/-12 sec/day up to +/- 30 sec/day
• Special (Elabore) – adjusted in three positions; accuracy of +/-7 sec/day up to +/- 20 sec/day
• Premium (Top) – adjusted in five positions; accuracy of +/-4 sec/day up to +/- 15 sec/day
• Chronometer – COSC criteria

Acceptable amplitude for all grades is 200 degrees min to 315 degrees max.

Variations:

Sellita is not joking when they say there are many variations of the SW215-1. At the time of this post, there are currently 13 variations based on this caliber.

• SW210-1 – No date
• SW215-1 – Date at 3:00 (this caliber)
• SW216-1 – Small seconds at 6:00, date at 3:00
• SW261-1 M – Small seconds at 6:00, date at 3:00 (note Sellita lists this as SW261-1 M in their catalog but it appears to be a typo)
• SW219-1 – Small seconds at 9:00, date at 3:00
• SW220-1 M – Day/date at 3:00
• SW221-1 M – Central date hand
• SW240-1 M – Day at 12:00, date at 3:00
• SW280-1 M – Date at 3:00, moonphase at 6:00
• SW285-1 M a – Small seconds at 9:00, date at 3:00, moonphase at 6:00
• SW285-1 M b – Day/night indicator at 10:00, date at 3:00, moonphase at 6:00
• SW288-1 M – Big moonphase at 12:00, date at 6:00
• SW295-1 M – Small seconds at 9:00, date subdial at 3:00

Accuracy:

Expected accuracy ratings depend on the movement grade. According to Sellita, the average rate should be within +/- 12 seconds/day for the standard version. See the grades section above for other ratings.

Power Reserve:

According to Sellita it takes a minimum of 23 turns to of the crown to wind this movement. Once fully wound, the average power reserve is about 42 hours.

Examples of watches with the caliber SW215-1:

The image above was submitted by Batt M of the Sellita caliber SW215-1 found in his Neucarl Sept Mai Roma edition watch (URL removed: https://www.neucarl.com/product/the-sept-mai-roma-edition/).

SW215-1 Tech Sheets (pdf):

Additional Resources:

• More Sellita watch moevments