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Posted

Howzit Watch Fans, ...I'd like to share a nice watch with a history with you . I just acquired an Eterna Matic Kon Tiki . Eterna is famous for Introducing the ball bearing rotor on todays self winding watches . The Logo for Eterna is 5 ball bearings .

I have attached a link called The story of Eterna :

http://eterna-fanatic.com/pages/eterna-information.php

The Kon Tiki commemorates the the Pacific Voyage of explorer Thor Heyerdahl on a Balsawood raft in 1947 ....

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The Kon Tiki watch I have has a movement numbered 1422 UD , and is from 1961 . Eterna chose to date their watches by movement numbers instead of serial numbers because they changed movement numbers so often as demonstrated by the fact that in 1961 alone , there are 9 movement numbers .

The watch commemorates the voyage with a gold emblem on the case back depicting the sailing raft "Kon Tiki " .

On to the watch....the first few pics are the sellers...

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On to my pics .....The wach was serviced according to the seller , and I found fresh silicone lube on the case back and crown gaskets . Also a very clean movement with virtually no marks or scratches  visible . I cleaned the case and installed a new crystal , and although the original Gay Freres bracelet came on the watch , I found the links to feel too lightweight and rather chintzy ,[ that's my take ] . So I installed the links from a bracelet I had in my stash but used the original end links , which needed a bit of body and fender work , and also kept the original deployment buckle with the Eterna / Kon Tiki logos and the Gay Freres inscription .

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 I hope you enjoyed looking at this watch as much as I do .   Aloha , Louis

  • Like 5
Posted

Thanks for the background, Louis!  Nice watch and nice bit of history.  I never knew that about this watch.  I remember reading about the Kon Tiki, but somehow missed the part about the Eterna.  Nice watch, by the way.

Shirley

Posted

Hi Ricardo,

Nice watch. This model is probably one of my earliest memories of watches as I remember reading Eterna's advertisement in the Reader's Digest of the early 70s which gave a summary of Heyerdahl's feat.

Also in those magazines were Rolex's which were found on the inside cover (full-spread) and Seiko's (one page only!).

I have a few and I noticed that they 'do' have individual serial numbers so maybe their policy changed?

 

Anil

 

 

Posted
27 minutes ago, anilv said:

Hi Ricardo,

Nice watch. This model is probably one of my earliest memories of watches as I remember reading Eterna's advertisement in the Reader's Digest of the early 70s which gave a summary of Heyerdahl's feat.

Also in those magazines were Rolex's which were found on the inside cover (full-spread) and Seiko's (one page only!).

I have a few and I noticed that they 'do' have individual serial numbers so maybe their policy changed?

 

Anil

 

 

Their Policy may have changed , and I did notice a serial number on my watches movement . I mentioned the dating system from a site called "Wrist Chronology ". I am including that information....

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Maybe someone with more knowledge on the subject can shed some light on Eterna's dating system .

Posted

I would imagine that table would indicate what movements would be in use at the time. Individual movements having individual numbers.

Frankly I'm surprised that your watch doesn't have a serial number as the Kon-tiki was their flagship and would have been the highest priced (unless they had gold models). The ones I have are the basic 1000 and basic autos and these have serial numbers on the movement.

Will dig them out and post some pictures.

Anil

Posted

Hi anilv ,  in my last post I wrote that I did notice a serial number on my movement . 

I would like to see your Eternas . What year are your watches ? How did you determine the year ?

Thanks , Louis

 

Posted (edited)

Hi Ricardo,

Sorry I missed out the part where you said you had a serial number.

I don't know how to date them... they're not like Omega or older Rolex where the serial numbers are available online.

IIRC I have two automatics and a manual-wind. I currently have a ladies auto (1441) on my desk which is giving me a headache and I may put it aside for another day. Will try to locate them and post some pics.

Here's a link to a post I made on the hand-wind.

Anilv

Edited by anilv

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