[eccles]

I recently picked up an old Eterna matic cetenaire chronometer.
When it arrived the rotor that winds the movement had separated into two pieces , but the watch ran If I wound it. Luckily last week I picked up a second hand rotor assembly off ebay and everything is working fine.
It's also missing the second hand and would like to know if these are fairly generic, or do I have to source an Eterna specific hand?

From what I can gather the Centenaire was introduced in 1956 to celebrate 100 years of Eterna, and I think my watch is a little later, but I don't know how to date it exactly. Are there any lists of serial numbers out there?

The other thing I was wondering about was the Chronometer bit.These seem to be a little rarer and is the cal 1429u movement any different or is it just regulated to a better degree?

Anyway, on to the all important photos that I know you guys love!

The face is still in good condition.

The movement, a cal 1429u, serial number 4343663

The case serial number is between the lugs ( 3971136)

And lastly the caseback.

Thanks in advance for any info on this watch. |>

 

[DaBaeker]

beautiful eterna! great p/u. I'd like to see a pic of the rotor that split in two. And I would imagine the chronmeter version of this movemnt is a good deal less common then non chron

 

[eccles]

If you look at the movement picture you can see the hub of the rotor is not quite central to the outer weight. It has come apart at the joint, and looks like it may have originally been soldered (?).
I'll dig out the damaged one tomorrow and take some pics of it.

 

[Niccolo]

Congrats, beautiful Eterna!

 

[eccles]

Here's a couple of pictures of the broken rotor as requested. The little dark spots almost look like corrosion and I wonder if it got in the joint and it just popped apart.

Here's the rotor screwed to the bit of movement I bought for the good rotor.

And here are the two pieces. The joint has a 'V' shaped groove and what looks like some sort of solder in there.

Any other info greatly appreciated.

 

[trim]

Interesting with the 2 part rotor. My 1416 which is from '53 to '58 (more likely the '58 end) has a one part rotor.

As for dates, Ranftt lists the preceeding calibre family (1411) as introduced in 1953, your calibre family (1427) as 1955 and the subsequent calibre family (1455) as 1962.

So you are looking at 1955-62 range for the movement. Personally I would be happy to accept the '56 date which fits with the styling.

As to chronometer, I would have thought it would have had the micro-regulator, but I don't really know much about the Eterna chronometers.

 

[DaBaeker]

If you look at the movement picture you can see the hub of the rotor is not quite central to the outer weight. It has come apart at the joint, and looks like it may have originally been soldered (?).
I'll dig out the damaged one tomorrow and take some pics of it.

ah-hah. I see that. never would have noticed that w/o your mention tho.

And also-isnt this the exact part that eterna built much of its modern reputation on? hence the 5 pt. logo = 5 ball bearings in the rotor. I still can figure what originally held the 2 pcs together. it doesnt look like a solder type groove/joint. still love the watch tho

 

[nsmike]

The spots look like spot welding that let go. The spot welds would have been almost invisable if done before final finishing.

 

[eccles]

Can anyone out there give me a little advice on fitting a new second hand...... I tried one off an old Relide Sportsman the other evening and it went around fine, but doesn't fit properly so falls off.
I've never actually taken a set of hands off a watch before, so an unfamiliar with how they actually attach and the differences between watches.
I assume the second hand is a push fit on the central spigot, but do these spigots come in different sizes?
The hand I tried looks to be about spot on in length (13mm from centre to tip), but I'm assuming the central hole is a little too small to fit the spigot on the Eterna.
Are these fairly generic and come in certain sizes or are the hand usually specific to each model?

Any advice greatfully received.