Since ETA, part of Swatch Group has decided to reduce its deliveries to third parties, other Swiss movement manufacturers had a difficulty responding to the demand, often creating bottlenecks. Ronda, a Swiss independent movement manufacturer, known for their quartz movements, presented today at Baselworld the Mecano R150, a 25 jewel, 111/2’’’ automatic caliber, with three hands and date, suitable for the volume market. If anyone knows how to make movements in large volumes, Ronda — who sells millions of quartz movements every year — is in the best position to respond to the growing demand for Swiss mechanical movements.

While for the everyday watch owner this is not a glamorous news to be shared on Instagram, for many smaller brands that can’t afford to produce their movement in-house, this announcement comes as a relief, and it is probably one of the most important news from Baselworld 2016.

According to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (story in German), Ronda is aiming to produce 100,000 units per year, with a retail price of 60 CHF, making it comparable in price to similar basic ETA or Sellita movements.

This announcement coincides with the 70th anniversary of Ronda. Founded in 1946 by William Mosset, the firm concentrated on the manufacture of components for other suppliers’ mechanical calibers, until it launched its own first mechanical watch movement onto the market in 1961. In the mid-70s, as the new quartz technology transformation swept in, Ronda decided to join this dynamic evolution, which opened the way to a rapidly expanding mass market. Later, as demand for mechanical watch movements continued to decline sharply, the company discontinued its production in this segment at the end of the 80s.