Eterna-Matic

The earliest automatic movements from Eterna were advertised simply as Eterna Automatic. It was not until 1948 when a line of watches for ladies used the Eterna-Matic name. The term would later be used for many other movements for ladies and men. Although somewhat related, there were many differences between the various movements that used this name.

Early Eterna Bumper Movements

Eterna's first automatic movement was Cal. 835 in 1939. This 12.5 ligne movement featured small seconds. Between 1940 and 1945, Eterna introduced more movements, all with bumpers rather than free-rotating mass. These were not Eterna-Matic branded.

• Cal. 833 - 12.5 ligne, central seconds
• Cal. 834 - 12.5 ligne, small seconds
• Cal. 1033 - 9.5 ligne, no seconds
• Cal. 1034 - 9.5 ligne, central seconds
• Cal. 1158 - 12 ligne, central seconds
• Cal. 1159 - 13 ligne, central seconds
• Cal. 1176 - 13 ligne, small seconds

All of these movements were abandoned after 1948 as Eterna had developed a new movement with a central rotating mass mounted on ball bearings.

Eterna-Matic for Ladies

The first Eterna-Matic movements appeared in 1948 or 1949. These were compact (9.25 to 10 ligne) movements for ladies watches and were the first to leverage the ball-bearing rotor which would become the trademark of Eterna. Both movements had direct central seconds.

• Cal. 1198 - 9.25 ligne (20.50 mm) diameter, 5.35 mm thick, replaced by Cal 1319
• Cal. 1199 - 10 ligne (22.10 mm) diameter, 5.35 mm thick, replaced by Cal 1321

Smaller models with direct central seconds were soon introduced:

• Cal. 1194 - 7.75 ligne (17.20 mm) diameter, 5.35 mm thick
• Cal. 1195 - 8.25 ligne (18.30 mm) diameter, 5.35 mm thick

Eterna-Matic 12xx Family

The successful design of the compact Eterna-Matic series was replicated in a series of larger movements for men. The Eterna-Matic name was soon also used on the watches using this name, and would become a mainstream watch brand for Eterna through the 1950s. The first larger models followed by 1950.

• Cal. 1237 - 12.5 ligne (27.60 mm) diameter, 5.90 mm thick, central seconds, date window
• Cal. 1239 - 13 ligne (29.00 mm) diameter, 5.90 mm thick, central seconds, date window
• Cal. 1247 - 12.5 ligne (27.60 mm) diameter, 5.90 mm thick, central seconds
• Cal. 1248 - 11.5 ligne (25.60 mm) diameter, 5.90 mm thick, central seconds
• Cal. 1249 - 13 ligne (29.00 mm) diameter, 5.90 mm thick, central seconds

Eterna-Matic 13xx Family for Ladies

The original compact movements were replaced by 1953, with many similarities to the Cal. 12xx series:

• Cal. 1319 - 9.25 ligne (20.50 mm) diameter, 5.60 mm thick, central seconds
• Cal. 1321 - 10.5 ligne (23.30 mm) diameter, 5.60 mm thick, central seconds

Eterna-Matic 14xx Family

The Eterna-Matic movements were radically improved throughout the 1950s, with the original self-contained winding system gradually integrated into the movement itself. Introduced in 1953, the Eterna-Matic 141x measured just 5.55 mm thick. Each member of the family was also available with a date complication, bringing total thickness to 5.85 mm, which was still thinner than the original non-date Eterna-Matic. The family was available in sizes ranging from 11.5 mm to 13.5 mm in both flat and domed dial variations.

A second wave of movements were introduced shortly after with reduced thickness. Then a third wave was introduced at the Basel Fair in 1958. These featured a "conical" profile, with each plate and bridge reduced in diameter and an angled rotor. Designed by Heinrich Stamm, these also featured a quick-set date (advanced by pulling and pushing the crown) and other improvements.

The Eterna-Matic movement was redesigned again by Stamm in the 1960s for the Eterna-Matic 3000 watch, which completely replaced the earlier movements through the 1960s.