Hello everyone! I have a question that I’ve been meaning to ask for a while now, but I’m afraid of the answer, lol.

The new Solargraph looks great, but I’m curious about what’s inside.
TAG is marketing it as a La Joux-Perret solar quartz movement, but I have a sneaking suspicion that La Joux-Perret had nothing to do with it…
I haven’t seen a single picture of the back of the movement… One dial side generated image of the solar panel, and that’s it.

Who is La Joux-Perret owned by? Well… Citizen…
And we all know that Citizen has been leading the way for light powered watches for years now.

According to WatchBase, the TH50-00 is a re-branded Citizen E168. Which is a mostly plastic, un-jeweled, unserviceable, throw away movement.

Can we confirm this? Anyone willing to open up their brand new, $3000 watch for science?


I’m not against throw away movements, but I feel for $3000, they should have developed something that can be serviced traditionally, and something well constructed. Oh and also not lie about it, that would be cool too. I don’t have any real proof yet, but TAG is guilty until proven innocent in my book. They just have too many missteps and have lost a lot of trust.


Maybe I’m the only one who cares, but I just don’t like throw away stuff in my luxury products. I get it! A $30 Ronda is also just as throw away, since most watchmakers won’t bother to do a full disassembly and cleaning & oiling of the gear train and stepper. But I DO! At least I know I can. Anyway, rant over… Oh. One last thing. Feast your eyes on this beauty

 

Here’s a Ronda found in a lot of F1 watches.

Gold plated to reduce oxidation.
Mostly metal construction.
Metal covers, bridges, gear train.
Easily serviceable and repairable.
Jeweled gear train.
Easily available service information and diagrams from manufacturer.

 

For what it's worth it's the same movement Cartier uses in the Tank Solar.

It's probably just cheaper for them to replace the movement altogether at service which is why it's designed as such

 

Do they really use the same movement?
Even mechanical watch movements get swapped out at service. I know swatch group brands like Tissot will swap the movement with a freshly serviced one, and your old movement goes down the line to get serviced and added to stock.
Im sure TAG does the same with the cal 5.

I’m not sure how the watch community would handle it if ETA made all their movements non-serviceable. I know certain people believe that is already happening, but the Powermatic 80 movements are still serviceable. But even higher end movements are becoming less serviceable.
Fancy escapements with synthetic components like silicon hairsprings almost always have to go back to the manufacturer for service, or will require a certified watchmaker to access the parts that get replaced upon service.

I guess this is happening everywhere. When I was working as a tech for Honda, we weren’t allowed to work on automatic transmissions. We could only swap them out with factory rebuilt units. Which would fail again…

 

TAG just fit a new calibre 5 movement and return the watch and the old movement to the customer.

There’s another thread talking about the provenance of the solar movements, which asserted it was a citizen movement. Personally I don’t see much difference between spending $2000 on a watch with a $100 selita movement and spending $2000 on a watch with a $50 citizen movement. Except there’s a decent chance the citizen one will still work in a years time.

 

Well this also just comes with the territory of using in-house movements. But yes it does ensure a separate revenue stream for the manufacture. In the case where movements are replaced, it's often because it's quicker and easier to simply do so given the volume being dealt with. It also makes it cheaper for the consumer who might otherwise balk at a $500 service on their $2000 watch.
Then, the movement goes back to a central service center where they can service it at their leisure.

 

Well, I for one won't be opening up my Solargraph - ignorance is bliss and yeah I agree with Doug. The idea that your watch is getting 'serviced' like in the old days is fanciful at this end of the market.

 

Knowing that the movement is developed by solar power expert Citizen is a quality mark in my eyes. Imagine the nightmare and quality issues if TAG Heuer developed their own solar powered movement inside the house.

About the whole serviceable or not. I think many of us need to get rid of the false romantic marketing image of what mechanical watches at the cheap price point (<15k) entail. This is robot built jewelery coming from big factories after all, jewelery that gets fixed as cheap and easily as possible when it is time for the manufacturer to repair it (or "service" as we all call it).

 

I guess you guys have good points. I like to service my own quartz watches, so I might just have to do some research before I buy. I do know that most people aren’t looking service their own watches, so I can see why this isn’t such a big deal to people.

It will be a little while before I can service my own mechanical watches. But I’m glad that TAG at least will send back the original movement

 

It is very cool that you service your own watches, then I totally understand your concerns from a new perspective. I barely change batteries in my watches and I've only been a watch addict for about 7 years so I've never had to send a watch for repair, sorry service I mean. I do own the mighty calibro cinco now so I expect the honour of having TAG repairing it in the next couple of years

 

I am seriously thinking about a greta graph as my potential next purchase at the end of 2024. I like the idea of having something that always runs and wont need a new battery for at least 15 years.

 

Is that made by Thunberg?

 

Haven't you heard? Solar panels save the planet from death, everyone who purchases a solargraph is a hero

 

I don't understand why people get upset about the idea of swapping movements. The whole 'Connected to Eternity' thing is a scam. From an efficiency point of view it makes a lot of sense since the replacement will be warrantied and we know watchmakers are in short supply.

 

I agree. Whilst I like the idea of keeping the same watch for a lifetime, it would be like Trigger’s Broom after a couple of services.

 

Oh I honestly don’t mind a movement swap. Not even if it’s vintage. I can’t call myself a collector, I have no interest in collector hype. I’m just a watch enthusiast

 

Oh yes! The caliber of death! I still haven’t serviced any of my ETA mechanical movements I tried servicing a quartz chrono once and ended giving the watch away because I was too frustrated. That was my black dial 2000 exclusive too

 

LOL calibre of death is a crazy name for it

Again, I think you are totally badass for servicing and trying to learn these things like that

 

Haha well in all honesty there is some truth to the reverser wheel issue on ETA and Sellita movements, that are a little too common still… but I don’t think it’s as widespread as the interwebs make it seem.

my “caliber 5” *wink* has been fine, and I wind that thing! Same goes for all my other ETA movements. Never an issue, not a once! In the 20 + on and off watch collecting journey, and I can’t count how many I’ve had. But I can tell ya that I’ve had ONE sellita powered watch, and it had multiple issues with the movement. Broken ratchet wheel, worn out and sticking reverser wheels.. issues with the setting lever…

and thank you! But I’m still breaking more watches than I am fixing them

 

It was made by La Joux Perret. Your sneaking suspicions can be laid to rest! It has a jewel count, unlike the E168. Plus recharge time and power reserve are all different than the E168.