Sellita Caliber SW261-1

The Sellita caliber SW261-1 is a Swiss made automatic movement 31 jewels and a frequency of 28,800vph.

The notable feature of this movement is the small seconds subdial at 6:00. This is typically found on manual-wind movements such as vintage pocket watches, so it’s nice to see the option available on an auto.

SW261-1 VS SW260-1:

There is a very similar Sellita caliber SW260-1, also with a small seconds subdial towards the 6:00 position.  The main difference is in the position of the small seconds hand pinion. On the SW261-1 being discussed here, the seconds hand is positioned lower on the dial, farther away from the central hours and minutes. This lower position allows for a slightly longer seconds hand and a larger diameter of subdial. The SW260-1 small seconds hand is about .8mm closer to the center than the SW261-1. See the image below from Sellita:

4 Grades of SW261-1:

Just like the SW200-1, there are four grades of the SW261-1 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

SW261-1 Crown/Stem Removal:

If you want to remove the movement from your watch, you will likely need to extract the stem first. Official Sellita documentation states that the crown should be in the time setting position before being extracted. Use a 1mm screw-driver to carefully press the detent button in the hole near the steam. Avoid using tweezers or any other tool with a point because this could jam the setting lever and damage the setting lever spring.

Replacement Prices:

At the time of this article, replacement prices for the SW261-1 were found online for around $310.00 USD. Keep in mind that this is the price being charged by a Switzerland based seller on eBay selling individual movements and does not reflect the wholesale cost of ordering in bulk from Sellita. If you have details on wholesale pricing, please add it to the comments below.

Also, be advised that the prices can fluctuate depending on quantity and grade of the movement ordered. If you have experience with ordering bulk from Sellita, please share in the comments below…

Sellita Caliber SW261-1 Drawings:

Below is the front and back view of a fully assembled SW261-1 side-by-side.

Examples of watches using this movement:

The Sellita SW261-1 is is found in the Louis Erard Excellence Marqueterie (introduced 3/24/23). They used the elabore grade with a blue tinted crystal on the exhibition style caseback. Also noteworthy is the fact that this timepiece does not make use of the small running seconds complication.

You may be asking yourself, why would a brand use the SW261-1 and not use the small seconds? Why not just use an SW200-1 without the seconds? Well, you’d be correct in that thinking, but Louis Erard has at least a dozen models with a small seconds subdial. This means that they likely have SW261-1 movement on hand from previous orders. It’s not the first time they used the SW261-1 without the small seconds.

As seen above, the SW261-1 comes stock with a date options, but Louis Erard’s watch also does not have a date window. Caliber Corner has reached out to them on Instagram to see if they had the calendar components removed completely, or if the watch has a phantom date position. This post will be updated accordingly.

Another watch brand using the SW261-1 without a date is Seoul, Korea based Pitzmann, with their timepiece called The First Pitzmann.

The Fromanteel Generations Pendulum Blu does make use of the date complication, but opted for a custom gold tone rotor seen below:

TRIBUS Watches, a project from Christopher Ward and sons, featured a COSC version of the SW261-1 in their TRI-01 model. The image below was posted to the brand’s Twitter page on 9/14/21. According to Wikipedia, TRIBUS closed in summer of 2022 after filing for insolvency (source).

Caliber Commentary:

Seeing as how the brands using this caliber are forgoing the date window on the dial, it’s surprising that Sellita does not yet offer an automatic movement with small seconds and no date. Perhaps this is an option they are giving brands upon ordering, but such a dramatic difference in movement and parts list, seems worthy of having its own caliber number. Otherwise, the watch community is faced with experiencing the dreaded caliber confusion.

Additional Resources:

• Official SW261-1 tech sheets (pdf)
• Learn about Sellita movement grades
• List of Sellita watch movements