Valranges, new movement from ETA.

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Press release from ETA wrote:
Valgranges ®
We are undoubtedly witnessing the beginning of a major trend for the coming years – the demand for large, even very large watches. These watches are not only designed to display the time, but also to express the personality of the wearer. Today’s women often like to use large watches, while men turn to even bigger timekeepers.

A 16½ line movement on one’s wrist
To embrace this trend, a new calibre has emerged: the Valgranges, an impressive 16½ line movement.

From Valjoux to Valgranges
A select origin entails a special obligation for excellence. The Valgranges calibre is indeed of high-ranking birth. Its name shows at a glance that it was conceived along the lines of the famous Valjoux calibre. Designed in 1973 in the Vallée du Joux, this standard diameter (131/4 lines) automatic mechanical movement has become a reference movement in Swiss mechanical watchmaking. It is the timekeeper chosen by an extensive number of brands and its name is recognised as a pledge of quality by both professionals and connoisseurs. Developed in Granges (Grenchen in German), where the manufacture ETA was founded nearly a century and a half ago, the Valgranges has all the qualities of the 7750 movement. And maybe even something more…

A calibre that embodies the ETA values
Watchmakers are familiar with the exceptional quality of ETA movements. Moreover, the company has the exceptional power to manufacture quality precision products. The Valjoux is prized for its reliability, its robustness, its high precision and also for its power: The mainspring rewinds with extraordinary speed – it just takes a few movements of the wrist to furnish the watch with energy. For the spring to reach its full 46 hours’ power reserve, a few hours of wrist movement will suffice. Of course, all the other advantages of the Valjoux are also included in the Valgranges calibre.

Like the Valjoux, the Valgranges calibre is available in a series of movements equipped with different features but all of identical dimensions (same diameter, same height), an uncommon advantage for clients.

• Valgranges A07.111
Hour, minute, second and date.

• Valgranges A07.161
Hour, minute, second, date and power reserve.

• Valgranges A07.211
Hour, minute, second, date and chronograph.

A version equipped with a 24-hour time zone feature (Valgranges A07.171) is currently under development at the manufacture and is due to be introduced in autumn 2005.

www.valgranges.ch

Lines
Following a centuries-old tradition, watchmakers use lines rather than millimetres to describe the size of the movement’s diameter. This measurement is generally indicated as a triple apostrophe, so 16½ lines is written as 16½´´´, or 37.22 mm diameter.

The line, or Parisian line, is an ancient watchmaking measurement that predates metrification and is a direct descendant of the French pied (foot) measurement used under the Ancien Régime. Each line is equivalent to 2.2558 mm, which is rounded up to 2.26 mm for ease of calculation. In the past the French foot used to correspond to 12 inches measuring 12 lines each.

Calibre Valjoux
13¼ lines or 29.89 mm

Calibre Valgranges
16½ lines or 37.22 mm


find more to read and se at: http://www.valgranges.ch and http://www.eta.ch

It's a like 7750 without the chrono parts (as used by Panerai) and central seconds. Theoretically, it should be more stable than the 28xx's* but I doubt if it would make any difference in use. It's more of stylistic effort,and I expect they are a lot more in price.