Short answer

Calibre 8806 is a Swiss movement built by Omega. METAS certifies each one as a Master Chronometer. No workshop in China makes a real 8806. Listings that use the term sell a different movement with an Omega-style rotor and bridge engraving.

What calibre 8806 is

  • Maker: Omega, Biel, Switzerland.
  • Type: automatic, self-winding, co-axial escapement.
  • Certification: Master Chronometer, tested by METAS.
  • Magnetic resistance: 15,000 gauss.
  • Power reserve: 55 hours.
  • Rate: 25,200 vibrations per hour.
  • Display: no date window.
  • Balance: free-sprung, silicon hairspring, marked Si14.

Omega sells the 8806 as the no-date member of the 8xxx family. The 2017 Railmaster Master Chronometer 40mm uses it.

What replica listings put inside

A replica case holds one of three movement types in most cases:

  1. An Asian copy of the ETA 2824-2, sold as the Seagull ST2130 or the Hangzhou 6300.
  2. A Chinese 2824 copy with a decorative plate and a rotor printed with Omega text.
  3. A 2824 base with the date removed, or a date wheel left in place behind a no-date dial.

None of these have a co-axial escapement. None pass METAS testing. Most run at 28,800 vibrations per hour, which is 3,600 above the real 8806.

How to tell a copy from the real movement

  • Balance: the real 8806 is free-sprung and has no regulator index arm with a screw. Most clones have one.
  • Hairspring: silicon reads dark grey. Clone hairsprings are blued steel or a Nivarox-type alloy.
  • Rate: a timegrapher reading near 28,800 vph points to a 2824 base.
  • Markings: Omega cuts bridge text into the metal. Copies use laser print.
  • Certificate: a Master Chronometer watch ships with a METAS access card that matches the movement number.

Legal status in the US

18 U.S.C. 2320 makes trafficking in counterfeit goods a federal crime. US Customs and Border Protection seizes counterfeit watches at ports of entry. Omega and its parent Swatch Group hold the trademarks on the name, the symbol and the movement markings.

What is not public

Factories do not publish movement specifications. Batch contents change between runs. A seller's description of a clone 8806 cannot be verified before purchase, and no third-party test data for these movements exists in public sources.