Restoration of a 1st gen Eterna Kontiki. UPDATE: ENDRESULT

Yes. Next week!

To give a summary. We've replaced the hands and crown. We used donor dials for the metal balls. The dial and hands were relumed and the movement got a service.

I think it’s a very sympathetic conservation/restoration and I hope you love it on the wrist!

Thnx!

Thnx!

I assume it's a older redial. So it's not surprising the font raises questions. We left it because there were no proper clichés.

Well guys. Before I get to the wrist shot I think it's important to give a summary of the whole project. For people like me, who did'nt had any experience with these kind of projects, it was very interesting. I think this thread could help other collectors to determine if they will do a restoration or not. I will give also a summary of the total costs. Just to give people a idea what they can expect. I had no idea.

It all started when Troels (@ConElPueblo) pointed me (in December 2020) at a certina diver, which was in fact the very first kontiki ever made (1958).

Powered by the Eterna-Matic caliber 1414UD, the first KonTiki from Eterna featured a deep gloss black dial with large radium lume triangles at 12,3,6, and 9 containing hour numerals inside the plot— this feature has come to be a calling card of sorts in the product line. The KonTiki was housed in a 36.5mm stainless-steel waterproof case.They are very rare and not a lot survived.

However, this kontiki had a lot of issues. The hands and crown were all wrong, the radium was shot to death, the dial was probably refinished and the metal balls were'nt there.

So this thread was started in February 2021 because it was time to save this poor old thing. It took me a couole of months to find a crown, hands (original ones were unobtainable) and donor dials (thnx to @Radiumpassion). And off it went to the watchmaker. He installed the crown, hands and metal balls, he applied new lume and he gave the watch a service.

Costs:

1. Watch EUR 525
2. Hands EUR 25
3. Crown EUR 55
4. Donor dials EUR 40
5. Lume and metal ball job EUR 120
6. Service EUR 245

Total EUR 1.010

So for the average collector who is unexperienced with resorations, I hope I have contributed a bit with some knowledge.

If you can save a old watch, it's worth doing so. I really feel a bit better about myself... 😁 And this kontiki will live for 50 years more. At least...

PICTURES:

There's none. The seller made a mistake. 😁

Lovely! Now that it’s under plexi- it can’t see anything that would make we wince. Fantastic project.

Congratulations, and thanks. Your figures are indeed very interesting. For the price of a fairly ordinary Seamaster, you now have an openly and honestly renovated example of one of the great watches. Well done that man!

From a larger perspective, it’s been fun to watch your transition from dress watches to sport watches over the last year. I have undergone a similar shift during the lockdown. I always had a small collection of sport watches, but I had a decent dress watch selection for work. Even though we are starting to slowly go back, I don’t really see a need for all the dress watches in my collection- a couple will do, hence have been selling them off- very much like you have. I have also found myself drawn more to fun watches than “serious” watches.
I guess the last year has given everyone a little time to slow down and figure out what it is that actually thrills us.

Yes. I was following all your recent sales post with interest. Great watches you were selling. Eventually we'll get back to them. It's like a pendulum. At the end of the journey it will balance out.

Stunning results, congrats! And thanks for taking us on the journey too!