Valjoux (for ''Vallée de Joux'', "Joux Valley") is a Swiss manufacturer of mechanical

watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of ...

movements Movement may refer to: Generic uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Movement (sign language), a hand movement when signing * Motion, commonly referred to as movement * Movement (music), a division of a larger c ...

, based in

L'Abbaye L'Abbaye is a municipality in the canton of Vaud, Switzerland, located in the Jura-Nord Vaudois district in the Vallée de Joux. It takes its name from Lac de Joux Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery. History L'Abbaye was created as an indep ...

, in the canton of

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, located in the Jura-Nord Vaudois district in the Vallée de Joux. It is known primarily for

chronograph A chronograph is a specific type of watch that is used as a stopwatch combined with a display watch. A basic chronograph has hour and minute hands on the main dial to tell the time, a small seconds hand to tell that the watch is running, and ...

ébauche movements that are used in a number of mid- to high-range mechanical watches. The company is a part of

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

, and is a member of the

Swatch Group The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 through the merger of ASUAG and SSIH, moving to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the tradition ...

. They are also the movement providers for early Rolex Daytonas such as 6263.

Valjoux 7750

Valjoux is responsible for the design and manufacture of the Valjoux 7750 movement (and variants), an extremely popular movement used in many

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

watches. The Valjoux 7750 is different from most other chronograph movements, using the three-plane cam system rather than the column wheel. It is constructed of a mainplate, calendar plate, and chronograph top plate. Levers push a cam back and forth, driving the stopwatch mechanism of the Valjoux 7750. This is referred to as a ''coulisse''-lever escapement. The Valjoux 7750 is the first watch movement developed using computer-assisted design. In the 1980s, many companies began using the Valjoux 7750 because it was easier to mass-produce and distribute in high volume. The Valjoux 7750 can be created in several different displays, including adding or eliminating a date window or adding or subtracting a subdial. Watch companies can purchase the movement and alter it in house if they desire. Some watch brands that use base movements manufactured by Valjoux include Appella, Breitling, Christopher Ward, Cyma Watches
Deep Blue Watches
Dreyfuss & Co.,

Fortis Fortis may refer to: Business * Fortis (Swiss watchmaker), a Swiss watch company * Fortis Films, an American film and television production company founded by actress and producer Sandra Bullock * Fortis Healthcare, a chain of hospitals in ...

, Gallet,

Glycine Glycine (symbol Gly or G; ) is an amino acid that has a single hydrogen atom as its side chain. It is the simplest stable amino acid. Glycine is one of the proteinogenic amino acids. It is encoded by all the codons starting with GG (G ...

, Hamilton Watch, IWC, Steinhart, Invicta Watch Group, Junghans,

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Agassiz family, Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss The Swatch G ...

, Louis Erard, Mido, NIXON Inc.,

Omega Omega (, ; uppercase Ω, lowercase ω; Ancient Greek ὦ, later ὦ μέγα, Modern Greek ωμέγα) is the twenty-fourth and last letter in the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numerals, Greek numeric system/isopsephy (gematria), it has a value ...

, Oris, Panerai,

Porsche Design Porsche Design, legally ''Porsche Lifestyle GmbH & Co. KG'', is a German lifestyle brand and product design studio founded in 1972 by Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, the designer of the original Porsche 911, known for its accessories such as sungl ...

, Sector No Limits, Sinn,

TAG Heuer TAG Heuer S.A., founded Heuer AG ( ) is a Swiss luxury watchmaker. Founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer in St-Imier, Switzerland, it was acquired by Techniques d'Avant Garde (TAG) in 1985, which purchased a majority stake in the company, forming ' ...

Tissot Tissot SA () is a Swiss luxury watch brand owned by the Swatch Group. The company was founded in Le Locle, Switzerland by Charles-Félicien Tissot and his son, Charles-Émile Tissot, in 1853. Tissot is not associated with Mathey-Tissot, anoth ...

, Tutima,

Xezo Xezo is an American designer brand of luxury goods In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good (economics), good for which demand (economics), demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures o ...

, and Zodiac Watches. There are also a large number of derivative chronograph movements based on the Valjoux 7750 base. These include ETA's own Valgranges, designed for larger watches, as well as the following third-party movements: * Alfred Rochat for Chronoswiss (C. 732 or C. 741, C 741 by Rochat) * Dreyfuss & Co. (Have a range of 7750 Valjoux watches) *

(developed by Paul Gerber, featuring an alarm and two springs) *

Franck Muller Franck Muller is a Switzerland, Swiss luxury watch manufacturer named after its founder. The company's estimated total sales (in 2010/2011) were 20000 pkr in watches with an average unit price of 679000 pkr Franck Muller's watches are worn by va ...

(for example FM 7850 CC MB) *

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

(for example H31) * IWC * Selectus * Jacques Etoile (cal. IV.C4) * La Joux-Perret/Jacquet (for Jaquet Droz, Bremont BE-83, and others) *

Maurice Lacroix Maurice Lacroix is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in the Canton of Jura and headquartered in Zürich. History Maurice Lacroix was founded in Sainelegier in the highlands of Jura as part of Desco von Schulthess of Zürich in 1975. Founded in ...

ML112 * Paul Picot ("Atelier Technikum") * Panerai * Porsche Design ( Eterna 6036) * Revue-Thommen ("Airspeed Flyback") * Sellita SW500 * Sinn ("Flyback") * Soprod * Damasko (fitting a silicon main spring to the 7750)

References

External links

Excellent source for company history, watch details, etc.

ofrei.com, Otto Frei
Alliance Horlogere
A page containing information about the Valjoux 7750 along with a video showing the mechanism being assembled

Crown & Caliber Watch movement manufacturers The Swatch Group Manufacturing companies of Switzerland {{Switzerland-company-stub

Valjoux 7750

References

Further reading

External links