Watchlords

A bronze watch, particularly a diving watch, deserves a test under real-life conditions. So it was off to the Caribbean to conduct some field testing on one of the 300 Kontiki Bronze watches by Eterna.

Eterna, Oris and Eberhard & Co. are among the last independent watchmaking companies that remain modest in size, and whose goodwill capital among collectors remains intact. They all boast over a hundred years’ heritage, and historical collections that are made with care and competitively priced. Some will say that’s not much to boast of. But it’s absolutely vital.

Rule of three

Since 1856, Eterna has never once deviated from this path. So, when the company launched a new version of the Kontiki, it was definitely worth more than a second glance. Why? Three reasons. First, because for the time being it is the only Eterna reference in bronze; a rare item that you are highly unlikely ever to spot on someone else’s wrist. Next, because it has a manufacture movement, a rare luxury for such a small independent watchmaker.

http://en.worldtempus.com/article/watch ... 25920.html

"it has a manufacture movement, a rare luxury for such a small independent watchmaker."

Yeah, well, the only period when they haven't used a lot of manufacture movements (or none at all), was from somewhere in the 1970s to the 2010s. Still, that wouldn't really be completely true, because the ETA 2824 and 2892 were their designs, at some point "decommissioned", with production handed over to ETA.

But how would this new reference fare in its natural element – the sea? To find out, we took it to the Caribbean.

That was where WorldTempus put it to the test. So let’s get straight to the point: what we really wanted to test was the bronze case, to see how it would react to salt water.

By Jove, doesn't it sound like a dream job! A bit of sea salt and a glass won't do, so let's not even drive a few hundred klicks to the coast and dip it in the waters of the Italian or French Riviera. Let's fly to the fucking Caribbean, drink rum, do the wild thing with exotic ladies, have some more rum, then some more exotic ladies... Then, some penicillin, obviously... And to conclude the vacation, let's do the one thing that's left to do - just pro forma take a swim with the watch, or if there's still too much rum and penicillin flowing in the veins to allow the body to move the hands and legs vigorously enough to prevent drowning, let's just dip the watch in the ocean while trying to have the refreshing sea breeze cure the massive hangover. Yay!

I don't know about the rest of you stupid bastards, but I certainly like the look of a decaying watch.

conjurer wrote:I don't know about the rest of you stupid bastards, but I certainly like the look of a decaying watch.

Bite me book boy!

A looker..I'll have to keep my eyes open for previously loved example...

Things that 'patina' at a rate you can see are normally seen as poor quality.

bedlam wrote:Things that 'patina' at a rate you can see are normally seen as poor quality.

Especially those bronze sculptures that are hundreds of years old.

foghorn wrote:

bedlam wrote:Things that 'patina' at a rate you can see are normally seen as poor quality.

Especially those bronze sculptures that are hundreds of years old.

Exactly. They were covered in patina within months. Should have been 904L stainless. Just ask Smells

bedlam wrote:

foghorn wrote:

bedlam wrote:Things that 'patina' at a rate you can see are normally seen as poor quality.

Especially those bronze sculptures that are hundreds of years old.

Exactly. They were covered in patina within months. Should have been 904L stainless. Just ask Smells

Yeah but that's just because those idiot sculptors put them im plasic bags filled with hard boiled eggs.

MKTheVintageBloke wrote:Yeah, well, the only period when they haven't used a lot of manufacture movements (or none at all), was from somewhere in the 1970s to the 2010s. Still, that wouldn't really be completely true, because the ETA 2824 and 2892 were their designs, at some point "decommissioned", with production handed over to ETA.

Good old ETernA.

Lots of fake news about how Eterna is going bust, Fortis is closing down, Rolex is selling Tudor because it's underperforining, etc. None of them is true. The internet is full of shit, which means a lot of the people using the internet are full of shit. They need to fuck off to luxurybrands.net where they can reach around and bring each other off in an orgy of pointless, name-brand pant-wetting consumption.

Pubbie wrote:Good old ETernA.

Lots of fake news about how Eterna is going bust, Fortis is closing down, Rolex is selling Tudor because it's underperforining, etc. None of them is true. The internet is full of shit, which means a lot of the people using the internet are full of shit. They need to fuck off to luxurybrands.net where they can reach around and bring each other off in an orgy of pointless, name-brand pant-wetting consumption.

Well, after all, the 2824 and 2892 were Eterna calibres 1541 and 1455U respectively.

Eterna going belly up is most likely fake news. The one unsettling thing is that I’ve sent them an inquiry about an Eterna I’ve received earlier this year, months have passed, still no reply. They used to take their time (2-3) weeks, but that’s different. Also, no Baselworld novelties this year, and their website hasn’t been updated in a long time. Their Instagram account was fairly lively, but it went incommunicado something like 2 months ago.

Their website looked dusted off and spiffy to me. Prices still too high but maybe there are deals to be had here and there.

https://www.eterna.com/

Nothing not to like there.