Baselworld 2014 seems to have marked the dawn of a new era for Eterna – the historic brand that in 1948 contributed decisively to the Swiss watch industry by implementing the ball-bearing assisted rotational movement fundamental to self-winding technology.
A new focus
After being absent in 2013, Eterna returned to Baselworld this year with a generously-sized stand in Hall 5.0. The acquisition by the China Haidian Group in 2011 has invigorated the 158-year old firm and the recent separation of the activities of Porsche Design timepieces allows the owners to focus exclusively on Eterna.
“We are now finally focusing on Eterna,” China Haidian’s CEO, Shang Jian Guang, explained to us. "We had a very good negotiation with Porsche Design and will continue the cooperation, supporting them with after-sales service and still providing our movements. But from now on we want to fully concentrate our energy on Eterna.”
One movement, 88 variants
The new modular in-house Calibre 39 is the company’s star. Just three screws are needed to attach any number of auxiliary modules. The first Eterna watch to be fitted with the Calibre 39 is the Royal KonTiki Two Time Zones, a sporty GMT timepiece inspired by a 1970s KonTiki predecessor that is powered by the first of 88 possible variants of the new movement, the 3945A self-winding calibre, beating at 28,800 vph and with a 68-hour power reserve.
Shang Jian Guang knows that, with a solid industrial base, Eterna is prepared to face demanding challenges. “We will continue to invest in developing Eterna as a manufacture movement company and we already did a lot of work to prepare our expansion, especially in the Asian market. This year we made our best effort to prepare for Baselworld so our distributors would have more confidence seeing our new booth and the new collections. But, basically, we have to continue working in terms of movement technology and production value and also in terms of our capability to provide our movements to other brands. In the future, we have to continue the DNA of Eterna and see what the market demands, so it’s a combination of heritage and the main trends. I respect the Swiss culture and trust the Swiss team to do it.”
Pointing out favorites
And what would be the China Haidian CEO’s favourite timepieces among the new products shown at Baselworld? “There’s a lot in the collection that I really like. The new KonTiki watches, the more classic Rialto – which feeds the Asian taste – and the watches with our own manufacture movements.”
We also asked Bruno Jufer, vice-president of sales & marketing at Eterna, to assess the timepieces introduced at the fair: “Among the novelties I’d choose one particular model from the classic line: the 1948 Legacy. It’s a really classic watch with a curved movement with big date and a beautiful silver curved dial. A really nice interpretation of the Eterna-Matic from 1948! It reflects the heritage and the big value of tradition in our brand.”
A chronograph on the way
So what will be the next variation for the versatile Calibre 39? “We will introduce it with a chronograph function,” admits Bruno Jufer. “It’s going to be a big step for Eterna and you will see next year when we come up with a beautiful calibre in a chronograph version – it will be another milestone for Eterna”.
Eterna’s Heritage range has a special place in the heart of die-hard aficionados and collectors, with the Super KonTiki 1973 being the most popular reinterpretation to date and even gaining cult status. The most recent instalment of the Heritage line is a military-inspired piece based on a 1939 cushion model. “The reason behind the Heritage collection is, as the name says, to show our heritage and go back in our archives to look what Eterna did in the past. To reinterpret these models in a modern style is the idea of the Heritage collection. The good thing is we have such a huge tradition that we will bring up in the next years many other interesting models that will broaden the Heritage collection.”
We will be waiting for them.
