Thankful for your opinion / expertise: This "Eterna" has an early unsigned Lantern movement and just a numbered case. The watch is dating from 1930´s to 1940´s The case number 42332 does not correspond with other Eterna numbers from this period. Do you believe that the watch is authentic and genuine "Eterna"? Thank you for sharing your opinion!
Could be. Looks like Eterna's shock protection on the balance bridge. If you contact Eterna they will be able to confirm.
I have a sneaking suspicion this watch may have been the one I (apparently foolishly) bid on last year. Consensus over on MWR was it was dodgy. http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showthread.php?78741-Eterna-RLM-Nav-Chronograph&highlight=Eterna
After a lot of playing around I think I could recover the photo from that thread that shows the back. This was sold 28th March 2017. So it looks like the same number but a different back (?)... suspicious...
I think you’re right it’s the same back. I thought the position looked a bit different but those marks all line up. So the same watch. Hammered for £700.00 last spring, and it seems it was listed on eBay for £3795.00 but can’t get the link to open.
thank you for your help and information, very apreciated! If I read that correctly (english is not my native language) nobody is sure about it, it could be possible - it could be not. I will try to examine it. Just from what I can see on these pictures: The radium (if it is radium) looks old and not repainted. case, dial, movement, winding crown look as if the come from the same period (1930´s to 40´s). Length of hands seem to match the scales of the dial perfectly. Engravement on back is old for sure and well known in literature. Bezel looks old and as it it is a turning bezel with indication of an arrow it is a rare piece. There are no signs for me that the movement was married to the case. During 1930´s even the early Heuer Lantern movements were always unsigned. Up to this point I do not see any oppositions. I did follow your suggestion and did contact Eterna company and did write to Konrad Knirim who is specialized in military watches. Will keep you updated!
I’m trying very hard to find the original image from the front, but it doesn’t seem to be available anywhere. I commented in the MWR thread that the 12 looked like it had been recently painted (although it doesn’t stand out now) and the printing on the dial looked a bit strange with a grid-like appearance. Is that still the case ?
w 154 "I commented in the MWR thread that the 12 looked like it had been recently painted (although it doesn’t stand out now) and the printing on the dial looked a bit strange with a grid-like appearance. Is that still the case ?" I can't see this from the pictures I currently have and which I posted above. I bougth on Ebay with the guarantee that it is genuine and the right to return within 14 days. I will wait till I have it on my desc and can look at it physically. I m very open minded whatever result I will get. I think this could possibly be an interesting watch. So I plan to inspect it carefully. If I find any evidence that it is not ok - I will return it. And I will share my information and results from inspection here - hopefully coming from speculation to facts. In the meantime I m waiting for an answer from Eterna and Konrad Knimrim.... I enjoy the discussion here with ball of you and to have the option to find the truth. Does anybody has anymore suggestions from you what to do when examining it?
The obvious one would be to check whether it’s radium or not. Do you have a geigercounter ? Other than that some really good macro shots of the dial would help a lot. If you want I can post all the new images over on the MWR thread for comment ? The upside is that there’s a huge amount of experience there and the forum members are generally objective in their feedback. The comments in the existing thread were based on front and back shots only, so now there’s more information there might be more answers.
Thank you I agree to both of you! We start with good makro shots and a geiger control (yes I do own a Radex) At least it is a nice watch to explore and may be we get some more information soon. I guess it will take a week till it arrives... Again thank you for your help and enthusiasm!
thats true and I was told and do own an early Heuer example where it is the same - so this is up to my knowledge and of one of my friends not unusual.
I received an email from Konrad Knirim today. His conclusions: - A nice watch - He does not doubt that Eterna may have produced it during the 40’s - He recommended to contact the company itself and try to get any more information (I already wrote to them)
I did buy this watch on Ebay and recently received it. So I promised to share my conclusions here. Up to my mind the watch is not authentic but the seller seems to be a very nice person (I believe he was not aware) and confirmed that he would take it back without any problems. From my first inspection the watch looked pretty nice. I took of the bezel and started to look at the dial. With a UV magnification loupe no reaction on the UV light. I recognized some dings in the auxiliary dial at 9ó clock close to the 10. I checked with a Geiger counter without any reaction - so it is no radium. I could not see a regular guilloche structure in the auxiliary dials. I regard this dial as reprinted and relumed. the printing of the scales looks very inconsistent: The snap on back is slightly smaller in diameter than the mid of the case - so there is a quite sharp gap between. Metal color of snap on back seems to be a little different from mid case. I guess the snap on back was coming from another watch. This would explain why the number inside doesn't match the Eterna production numbers of that period. And why it is signed inside: "Fond acier inoxidabe" Finally Konrad Knirim told me that he believes that the military signature in the back is not authentic Unfortunately I did not get any response from Eterna factory till today. As my personal and final conclusion I will return it. So for the future the fun is in the hunt again - not in the kill... Nevertheless it is nice to have a very serious seller on ebay who promised to take it back without problems and we had an interesting looking watch to discuss here. Please let me know if you draw different conclusions on what you can see in the pictures.
I certainly agree with your conclusion, having seen these macro photos. And yes, it is a very big advantage to deal with sellers who are willing to accept returns.