Today I present to you a real submarine, the mythical Eterna KonTiki.
Bright colors, an imposing cushion case and a tuning fork movement, we are right in the heart of the 70s.
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Here, an NOS (New Old Stock) copy to contrast with the one I received.
This KonTiki comes directly from Sweden and it has not been spared. Today it belongs to a French collector, p@tek on the forums or b.watch on Instagram.
This one presents this watch in a great article that you can find here: Eterna KonTiki Sonic
Why KonTiki?
“Wanting to prove his theory that the Polynesian culture was born in Peru, Thor Heyerdahl and his crew decided to cross the Pacific in 1947 aboard a balsa raft: the KonTiki.
ETERNA is the sponsor of the KONTIKI expedition. The watches worn by these six scientists are Eterna watches. In total: 97 days at sea and 7600 km covered. Since that date, ETERNA sports watches have been called KONTIKI.”
Text and image taken from this excellent article: Eterna: its history and its emblematic models
Let’s get into the technical part.
The project :
The tritium of the minute hand is damaged, it must be relumed.
I open the bottom with its characteristic medallion.
The bottom seal is very imposing.
This is the Bulova-licensed tuning fork movement: the Eterna Sonic 1550, which is a rebadged ESA 9162.
Tuning fork movements are special, they vibrate and buzz. To know everything about this little-known facet of watchmaking, I advise you to read this article:
BULOVA Accutron – The tuning fork revolution
I remove the movement from the box as well as the hands. The minute hand is prepared in order to carry out the reluming.
I apply a mixture with a color matching the patina of the watch and I let it dry for 24 hours.
The color is satisfactory, I reassemble the KonTiki.
The 70s star has regained her splendor and guess what? … It is always waterproof!
