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| Eterna New Calibre 3505 Spherodrive Movement | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20th, 2009 12:21 am |
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1st Post |
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oagaspar Site Founder 
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with all the talk about ETA and their future plans we forget about the many manufacturers/watchmakers who have been developing new in-house movements such as this newly released fall 09' awesome 18j ,ball bearing mechanical from Eterna who 1st started ETA before Swatch Group bought them... Eterna Madison Watch With New Calibre 3505 Spherodrive Movement Posted on June 2, 2009...copied from a Blogtoread  Leave it to a very ordinary watch to showcase some cool new technology. This is really interesting because most watch brands would just go nuts with a wildly designed watch and marketing to tell the world about even the slightest movement improvement. This is actually quite a cool thing from Eterna. You should also know that Eterna actually started the major watch movement maker ETA before it was later acquired by the Swatch Group. Here, the new technology is placed in the demure Eterna men's Madison watch. The new technology is called the Eterna Spherodrive and is a new type of mainspring barrel. That is the part of the mechanical watch the holds the mainspring, which is where all the power comes from. The mainspring is wound manually or via an automatic rotor. As the spring unwinds in a regulated manner, the power it released is used to power a mechanical watch. Every true mechanical watch that is out there uses some manner of main spring. As you can imagine, a mainspring is the heart of a watch's ability to be accurate. Sure there are many other things affecting accuracy, but it starts with consistency in the mainspring. The Spherodrive is a new type of mainspring barrel and has some interesting improvements. Here are some words directly from Eterna that sum up in general what the Spherodrive seeks to improve:
   To accomplish the above, you've noticed that the Spherodrive uses special types of ball bearings (zirconium oxide) that require no lubricant, it further features two, not one row of ball bearings. Also the "arbor" which is the features that holds the main spring barrel in place is richly advanced in the Spherodrive to be more stable, strong, and a better frictionless connecting point for the main spring barrel. You can see the two diagrams from Eterna. One that shows the traditional type of mainspring barrel assembly, and one that features the how the Spherodrive works. Older mainspring barrels did not utilize ball bearings, but just oil and the arbor - the new system changes all that. Further, the new movement changes the style in which the winding stem is connected to the mainspring barrel, effectively removing the connection so that the two connect only when necessary. The first movement to house the new technology is the Eterna in-house calibre 3505. It is a manually wound movement with 56 hours of power reserve. While the new calibre 3505 movement is simple, it is a starting point for what will be a base for future Eterna movements that will expand on the Spherodrive technology. Adding of course further complications and soon an automatic movement I am sure. There is a lot more to this tech than I am able to understand and properly explain, but I think you get the gist of it. A really nice piece of useful technology and improvement in mechanical watches that is simple and not expensive. The best part is that Eterna makes a nice window into movement where the mainspring with the Spherodrive technology peeks through the dial. Spherodrive watches will be available at select Eterna dealers starting in the Fall of 2009.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20th, 2009 02:08 am |
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2nd Post |
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Graham 3T WIS 
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Thanks for sharing! I have always loved the Eterna brand and their heritage. For those that don't know, their 5-dot logo represents the ball bearing rotor which they invented.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20th, 2009 09:52 am |
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3rd Post |
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Skipdawg 3T WIS 
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Great post and read Oscar. ;) yourock.gifyourock.gifyourock.gifyourock.gif
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20th, 2009 10:29 am |
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4th Post |
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bigrustypig 3T WIS 
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Eterna is the creator of the legendary Kontiki. This is a highly-respected marquee brand that keeps a low profile, sadly. Thanks for the post, Oscar. I almost forgot about Eterna but glad you posted this article.:)
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20th, 2009 11:16 am |
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5th Post |
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Paxman 3T WIS 
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Very cool!:D How long until we see this design duplicated?;)
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20th, 2009 12:58 pm |
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6th Post |
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Hammerfjord Moderator 
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A simple ball-bearing system... Another genious idea from those smart guys:cool: Here some doc about the key componant of this ball-bearing system: Zirconium Oxide, ZrO2 Zirconia is an extremely refractory material. It offers chemical and corrosion inertness to temperatures well above the melting point of alumina. The material has low thermal conductivity. It is electrically conductive above 600°C and is used in oxygen sensor cells and as the susceptor (heater) in high temperature induction furnaces. With the attachment of platinum leads, nernst glowers used in spectrometers can be made as a light emitting filament which operates in air. .Key Properties of Zirconium Oxide Use temperatures up to 2400°C High density Low thermal conductivity (20% that of alumina) Chemical inertness Resistance to molten metals Ionic electrical conduction Wear resistance High fracture toughness High hardness . Typical Uses of ZrO2 Precision ball valve balls and seats High density ball and pebble mill grinding media Rollers and guides for metal tube forming Thread and wire guides Hot metal extrusion dies Deep well down-hole valves and seats Powder compacting dies Marine pump seals and shaft guides Oxygen sensors High temperature induction furnace susceptors Fuel cell membranes Electric furnace heaters over 2000°C in oxidizing atmospheres Now we talk about high grade componant who can endure extreme stress 
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| Posted: Sun Dec 20th, 2009 01:41 pm |
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7th Post |
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Natevan70 Guest
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Pretty cool- I'm with Oscar; I like that they chose to roll out the new motor in a fairly understated, classy watch. I'll have to get more familiar with the brand.
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| Posted: Wed Dec 23rd, 2009 04:10 pm |
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8th Post |
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DM71 3T WIS 
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Thanks for sharing Oscar, it's always interesting to see new technologies and new movements coming out. I feel like we see the same movements around the world for the last 40 years or more and besides very high end watches companies that I will never be able to get, even in my wildest dreams, the industry seems at a stop since decades, in terms of movement development. I can understand that most companies were relying on ETA since the easiest road..but like you said Oscar, you find less and less young people involved in watch making, which is a shame to me, but reality. Hopefully this will change in a near future. Thumbs up to Eterna for what seems to be a very nice innovation and some freshness in the watch industry. hand6.gif
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| Posted: Wed Dec 23rd, 2009 11:57 pm |
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9th Post |
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jk103 3T WIS
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Eterna and ETA were the same company. in 1932 Eterna split Eterna into 2 companies and the ebauche part was named ETA and and became part of Ebauches SA. Ebauches SA was a organization comprised of 14 manufacturers with government participation for protectionist measures (basically a combination of manufacturers joined to price fix IMHO -reasons why regulated industry came into play here in the 1920's). To make a long story short the current ETA is the combination of all these companies (as well as what was left of those companies) and not so much the same company Eterna started. ETA was the strongest brand of all and had the Schild family name behind it as well.
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| Posted: Thu Dec 24th, 2009 12:22 am |
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10th Post |
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oagaspar Site Founder
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I believe this timeline may give a more accurate look into the development of ETA JK.... ETA SA A Brief History ETA SA Manufacture Horlogère Suisse is one of the world's largest manufacturers of watches and movements.[1] In 1856 at Grenchen, Urs Schild, a schoolmaster, and Dr. Girard set up a watch movement (ébauche) factory Schild Watch Co. which eventually became Eterna. In 1926, ETA AS (the movement branch of Eterna, founded in 1896) and FHF (founded in 1793) took part in the creation of Ebauches Ltd. In 1978 A.Schild and ETA merged and in 1985 ETA took in all the activities done before by Ebauches Ltd and FHF (both part of SMH/Swatch Group).[2] In 1998, SMH Swiss Corporation for Microelectronics and Watchmaking Industries Ltd, founded in 1983 through the merger Swiss watchmakers ASUAG and SSIH, was renamed the Swatch Group. At the time, both SSIH and ASUAG held a number of well-established Swiss watch brands. ASUAG had been founded in 1931. ASUAG expanded through the purchase of companies that made movement-blanks and a number of finished watch manufacturers that were subsequently brought together under the subsidiary GWC, General Watch Co SSIH was founded in 1930 through the amalgamation of Omega and Tissot. By consolidating companies that produced high-quality movements and a number of watch brands, SSIH gradually established a strong position in the Swiss watch industry. In the 1930s, both ASUAG and SSIH entered into complementary research and development programs to combat a severe economic crisis. Following repeated crises in the Swiss watch industry, by the 1970s both ASUAG and SSIH were again in trouble. Foreign competition and the mass production of cheap new electronic products were taking over the market. Eventually, both ASUAG and SSIH faced bankruptcy. In 1983, critical steps including the merger of ASUAG and SSIH into SMH and the launching of a low-cost, high-tech, artistic and emotional “second watch” - the Swatch. Invented, developed and launched by Ernst Thomke and his team.[3] During all those years of crisis, and restructuration, since 1978, Dr. Ernst Thomke had been at the helm of ETA SA, and also had become CEO of Ebauches SA and appointed on the Board of Directors of ASUAG. He became SMH's first CEO, position he held until 1991. At that time, Nicolas G. Hayek, as newly elected Chairman of the Board and main shareholder had already become the only person of reference.
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