I was thinking what to do for the 200th post and also how to share my newest acquisition. While it's easy enough to just say "Hey, here's my 200th" or "Hey, here's my newest", I wanted to do something a bit different. So, I thought I'd share my newest with a comparison against a re-issue. For your consideration is an Eterna Czech Air Force (CAF) watch, commonly known as a Majetek. In 2014, Eterna decided to reissue this watch in both a SS and PVD version. While there have been many posts dedicated to either, there hasn't really been any post comparing them side by side. First off, I won't be going into the history of the Eterna CAF. Donkii did an excellent job of that, as well as fredchrono. https://omegaforums.net/threads/eterna-majetek-a-journey-thru-time-ww2.35055/ https://chronographes.net/2018/02/22/eterna-type-majetek/ Long story short, there were 3 watches issued to the CAF - Longines, Lemania, and Eterna. While past thinking was that only the Longines was issued, that thinking has evolved. Current thinking is that Eternas with the crossed swords at the 11pm lug are issued. For the comparison itself, I'll start off with an archive photo from Eterna. Next, a photo of my newest. This photo is courtesy of tmw57 (Todd) as he obviously possesses photog skills that I don't have. Next, time to find an Eterna reissue in the flesh. It's actually harder than it sounds but I tracked one down at my local Eterna AD (Time & Gold, in Vancouver). They had the PVD version, which was fine. Just a warning that my (previously mentioned) poor photog skills didn't allow great pictures of the PVD case. Here they are side by side. The CAF is 38.5mm wide (40mm with crown) with lug-to-lug of 48mm. The reissue is 40mm wide with 50mm lug-to-lug. Sorry, didn't have a digital calipers with me so couldn't measure the width with crown. While it doesn't sound like much, you can see the difference when they're together. The thickness gets a little hairy. I have, what I believe to be, an original (top hat, to borrow Rolex terminology) crystal on my CAF. Donkii's post also has a similar crystal. Many out there have a domed crystal, which may be a replacement. Of course, nobody is 100% sure. With my crystal, thickness is approximately 11mm. The reissue has a thickness of 11.7mm, so not much difference there. Strangely enough, lug width on the CAF is 21mm while the reissue is 20mm. It's personal preference which is in better proportion. The reissue tries to recreate the shape of the original crown, but adds the distinctive Eterna 5 star logo. The caseback? Well, it's what you'd expect it to be. CAF to be an issued number while the reissue commemorates the watch. Lastly, is lume. On many of the CAF, the radium lume has been removed. Luckily, the lume on mine remains. Of course, the radium has long since burned out the luminous paint but it still glows under UV. Although faded to a nice yellow patina in daytime, it glows a strong green under UV. For the reissue, SL is used and also glows green under UV. I don't have a movement shot of my CAF as I don't want to screw around (pun intended) opening casebacks with radium dials. However, the CAF used the Eterna Cal 852S while the reissue uses a modern ETA 2824. And, a parting shot with them side-by-side, glowing brightly. And, to add that I'm far from an expert on these watches so will happily make any corrections in my post. I hope you've enjoyed my 200th. Kendall
Great 200th post, and very interesting reading Yours is a killer watch rarely seen in this condition. Congrats ^^
The Eterna is actually my favorite of the Czech pilots. It's a better size to wear compared to the Longines, and more appealing than the Lemania.
