Soprod

Soprod is a movement manufacturing house based in Switzerland. Today, Soprod is most well-known for their ETA clone/compatible movements, but the company started making watch parts in Tramelan, Switzerland in 1966.

At one point in their history, Soprod was a contract movement maker (like Sellita), assembling movements for companies like ETA.

In 1984, the former Chief of Production at Swatch (Victor Bruzzo), left and registered his own company called Indtec. While officially registered as being a Scion, Switzerland based company, there is reason to believe that Indtec actually had operations in India. From this Times of India article:

“It’s said to be Asia’s biggest individual precision turned watch component maker. It makes 8 million watch components and movement parts every week – many of these parts barely visible to the naked eye – and supplies them from its facility in Mangalor to Swiss watch companies like Ronda and Indtec of the SFT Group.”

Off topic, but the above quote makes it reasonable to question the validity of the origin claim on certain calibers such as the TAG Heuer Calibre S, a circuit board based quartz movement signed both “Swiss Made” and “Indtec”. At the very least, it seems safe to assume that the Swiss made movement contains parts from India, no?

Later (1993?), the Indtec founder also started the Société de Finance et Technologie (aka SFT) with which Indtec became a subsidary. SFT specialized in quartz movements – eventually growing to production to at least 100 million units per year. In this article from September 1999, the SFT Group was recognized as being the fourth largest watch parts producer in the world, behind Seiko, Citizen, and Swatch.

In 2002, Leman Capital purchased the SFT Group, and subsequently acquired Soprod in 2005 – from this merger, they formed STM Holding SA.

In 2007, the China based Peace Mark acquired STM Holding SA, making them the owners of Indtec, DFT, and Soprod. Within a year, Peace Mark was liquidated and sold to Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Co via New Flow Group Ltd for about $64.7 million (source).

So, after being tossed around like a hot potato by watch and jewelry equity groups, the manufacturer now resides within the Festina Group and has since 2008.

Soprod (Indtec) A10 x Seiko 4L25 Connection:

The history above is recommended reading to have a better understanding of the Soprod A10 x Seiko 4L connection…

When the A10 was first released, there was some caliber confusion in the watch community that it was an ETA 2892A2 clone. It is not an ETA clone, but rather an ETA replacement, based on dimensions, stem position, dial feet, etc. – as is the Seiko caliber 4L25.

Where the Seiko design ties in with Soprod is linked to the acquisition of the SFT Group (2002) and Soprod (2005) by Leman Capital. Remember, Indtec was part of SFT (both founded by the same Victor Bruzzo), and somehow was holding license for the 4L caliber design. From that asset, the Indtec caliber Alternance 10 was announced.

But there was a long period of time with no action on the Alternance aka A10 front.

Here is a post from 2004 referring to a February 2004 WatchTime article about new mechanical movements from Indtec. The thread even includes replies by Ming Thein, founder of Ming Watches!

There was a post on WUS as far back as June 4, 2008 asking if anyone has any information about the Indtec Alternance 10 & 20 (there was an Alternance 20 that was made to replace the ETA 2892-A2. No replies were given. Ah the internet of 2008, when not everyone had to chime in unless they had actual answers.

Editor’s Note: Some of the timeline may have some inconsistencies or inaccuracies. This is partially due to: much of the history occurring being before the internet dominated information, being overseas company registrations and acquisitions, and the overall smoke-and-mirrors aspect of the watch industry – notice how confusing the names are to keep up with, and notice no one ever mentions the possibility of an India connection when referring to Indtec (India Tech?), only “French-Swiss”. The point being, use this as a general guide for understanding Soprod’s history, but take it with a grain of salt.

Where are Soprod Movements Made?

Soprod says they make their movements and parts at their own facilities in the following Swiss (and French) locations: Reussilles, Le Sentier, Maîche, Muriaux (Jura region), Saignelégier (Jura region), and Sion. However, keep in mind that Soprod’s official website has not been updated since 2016 – so this and much of the information available, may no longer be accurate.

Editor’s comment: For a company’s main website to not be updated in about 8 years is either a good thing or a bad thing. Either they are so swamped with work that they simply can’t manage to bother with the website, or it’s a sign that the company isn’t doing well and can’t handle (or can’t afford) to deal with their site. Either way, it not only reflects poorly on a company to have an outdated site, but in the case of watches, it could also cause caliber confusion if there is a lack of updated information.

In Soprod’s own words (translated from French):

“Since 1966, Soprod SA has developed and manufactured mechanical movements with in-house assortments, anchors, balance wheels, anchor wheels and hairsprings for watchmaking. From this know-how your independent supplier of Swiss Made movements was born. Soprod offers reliable and efficient Mechanical, Smart and Quartz movements from its vertical production.” –Source

Soprod’s Automatic Movements:

• Soprod A10 (aka Alternance 10) – Considered a replacement for the ETA 2892-A2
• Soprod M100 – Evolution of the A10: Regular 3-hander with date at 3:00
  • Also available with open balance at 6:00 and skeletonized
• Soprod C105 – Small seconds at 6:00, moonphase at 9:00, date at 3:00
• Soprod C110 – Small seconds at 6:00, date at 3:00
• Soprod C115 – Power reserve indicator at 12:00, 24 hour indicator at 6:00, date at 3:00
• Soprod C120 – Big date at 12:00. AM/PM or day/night indicator to the left of a dual time subdial at 6:00
• Soprod C125 – Central GMT hand, date at 3:00
• Soprod C130 – Big date at 6:00, power reserve indicator at 12:00
• Soprod C140 – Power reserve indicator at 12:00, date at 3:00
• Soprod C145 – Open balance wheel at 6:00, power reserve indicator at 12:00
• Soprod P024 – ETA 2824-2 clone movement

The most popular calibers in this list above would be the M100 and the C125 – possibly the C110.

Soprod Smartwatch Movements:

Did you know that Soprod made a smartwatch? At Baselworld 2016, Soprod introduced a Swiss made smartwatch with “Blue Smart Technology”. The watch was capable of synching with a smartphone and displayed analog time, as well as indicators for calls, texts, email, calendar events, Whatsapp, Facebook notifications, and even news alerts. The double digit big dat at 6:00 doubled as a notification count.

There were at least 10 variations of smart watch movements available, and unlike most smartwatch movement makers, the Soprod collection actually had individual caliber numbers. All of the movements used Bluetooth 4.0 for device connectivity.

Below is a list of the Soprod Smart Swiss Made calibers:

• Soprod S913 1-Count –
• Soprod S913 1-Disc –
• Soprod S9132-Count –
• Soprod S913 Count-Disc –
• Soprod S915 2-Count –
• Soprod S915 2-Disc –
• Soprod S915 Chronograph –
• Soprod S915 Count-Disc –
• Soprod S916 Chrono-Sport –
• Soprod S916 Chronograph –

Videos for the Soprod Smart Watch:

Soprod Company Divisions:

Currently, Soprod has 3 divisions listed:

• Mechanical Division – Located in Les Reussilles in Tramelan, Switzerland
• Quartz Division – Located in Sion, Switzerland
• Subcontracting Division – Also in Sion, Switzerland

The subcontracting or outsourcing (as translated from “Division sous-traitance”) is who you would contact if you want to inquire about Soprod making a special movement for you. From their R&D page:

“Soprod develops new calibers that meet strategic needs and thus ensure your sustainable growth. We also design your own components or movements manufactured exclusively for you.”

Soprod as a Base Movement:

Some brands using Soprod as a base for their own branded caliber numbers:

• TAG Heuer Calibre 8 (module)
• TAG Heuer Calibre S
• Clerc caliber C609
• Ball caliber 2050

If you know of more watches using renamed Soprod calibers, please add them to the comments below.

Additional Resources:

• Soprod official site
• Movements tagged “Soprod”
• “Soprod” caliber search results