Eterna & Porsche Design

Has the current crisis threatened your projects?

When I took over the company management in 2006, Eterna was celebrating its 150th anniversary and had therefore already faced a number of crises. At that time, the first objective we set for ourselves was to redefine the main guiding principles of our manufacturing strategy, with the aim of then proceeding to tackling marketing and distribution in 2009. The latter aspects had to be postponed until this year. Since most markets had been closed before my arrival in order to facilitate the brand revival, we are starting from way down. Most of our watches are sold in Europe, and we are going to place the focus on USA and China, where Eterna enjoys a good reputation. We are planning to base our development on a dynamic production team with an average age of 36, while the development unit comprises ten people and already has 12 developments to its credit. We produce twice as many proprietary movements as in 2008, corresponding to around one quarter of our annual watch production.


What positioning are you focusing on in 2010?

We are pursuing our goal of developing Eterna watches with proprietary movements and more technical, design-oriented watches at Porsche Design. As you know, Eterna was the company that gave rise to ETA and has an exceptional horological heritage. In 1900, Eterna was awarded a gold medal at the Paris World Fair. In 1948, the Eterna-Matic was the first self-winding watch to feature a rotor mounted on a ball-bearing mechanism. Around 60 years later, in 2009, Eterna presented the Eterna Spherodrive, the ball-bearing mounted barrel. Two years of testing had proved to us that this system afforded many advantages compared with a classic construction, particularly in terms of performances, reliability and maintenance. This new innovation is now integrated into series production for the first time in the Eterna 3505 calibre, and this innovation will henceforth incorporated into all new Eterna models, including the Madison Eight Days unveiled at Baselworld.

How is the partnership going with Porsche?

This is a unique relationship, since Eterna holds the Porsche Design license for watches, while the Porsche family is also a company shareholder. As the holder of the Porsche Design license, Eterna is responsible for the development, production and distribution of Porsche Design watches. All movements are manufactured by Eterna. Alongside distribution through specialised retailers, we also have two monobrand boutiques world-wide that sell watches among the other Porsche Design products. Each new Porsche Design watch stems from close cooperation between Eterna SA, the Porsche Design Studio and the PHL, the company that handles the entire set of licenses. The Porsche Design brand is known for its exceptional design, exemplary functionality and the use of innovative materials. Did you know that Ferdinand Alexander Porsche was the first to create a PVD-coated steel watch in 1972, and then another in titanium in 1980? Issued in a limited series of 911, the 44 mm re-edition of the first titanium chronograph introduced this year is a tribute to his accomplishments. This limited edition will be accompanied by a publication illustrating the history of the first titanium chronograph by Porsche Design.