Eterna Matic Serial Numbers

Serial number look-up example: Let's say you have a Waltham watch with serial number 21,607,210 as shown in the photo below. Note that we're using the serial number from the watch movement, not from the watch case. Eterna-Matic, Cal. Eterna is a Swiss luxury watch company founded in Grenchen, Canton Solothurn on 7.

Eterna began using the ball-bearing auto in the late 40s. Eternamatic was the in-house automatic movement for eterna. If you review ETA movements vs. Eterna movements, you begin to see that any technological improvement eterna created would find its way into an ETA movement several years later. I'm not sure if this was because the patents expired or if some sort of licensing was involved. I think it was only until the late 70s or early 80s that eterna used some modified ETAs.

When the porsche family purchased the company, they continued producing their own movements as well as using a modified ETA ebauche for a few of their models. Eterna began using the ball-bearing auto in the late 40s. Eternamatic was the in-house automatic movement for eterna. If you review ETA movements vs.

Eterna movements, you begin to see that any technological improvement eterna created would find its way into an ETA movement several years later. I'm not sure if this was because the patents expired or if some sort of licensing was involved.

I think it was only until the late 70s or early 80s that eterna used some modified ETAs. When the porsche family purchased the company, they continued producing their own movements as well as using a modified ETA ebauche for a few of their models.

Jon is correct, ETA was spun off of eterna in the 30s. One thing that have not been able to discover, however, is exactly how the companies interacted after the split. I have read that, although swiss law required them to be seperate, they still shared a building and were seperated in legal name and function only. It seems that eterna developed the technology, used it in their movements, and then ETA got it a bit later. But i'm not sure how that took place. At some point their histories diverge, i think, as the mergers of swiss companies becomes more predominant.

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I really know very little about it. I have become interested in eterna because i think they're very well made and undervalued right now. A solid gold cased eterna chronometer recently auctioned on the bay for around 300 dollars. A great deal for an excellent watch. I was hoping someone would appear in this thread who knows a lot more than i do.

I suspect that ETA and Eterna worked closely. During the period between wars things got bad for the Swiss watch industry and the Government stepped in and put them all into a cartel. They set laws to govern who could make what. Eterna probably split off ETA to comply with these rules. The real mystery is how they got away with it. Starting a new business required a government permit and they gave out very few.