Eterna is a Swiss watch company with a rich history dating back to its foundation in Grenchen, Switzerland, in 1856 by Urs Schild and Joseph Girard. The company has played a significant role in the development of watchmaking, introducing innovations and creating iconic timepieces over the years. During the 1940s, World War II had a profound impact on many industries, including watchmaking. Eterna, like other Swiss watch manufacturers, faced challenges during this period, but they continued to produce timepieces, adapting to the circumstances of that time.

The watch we’re offering here dates back to ca.1947 and features a magnificent Tropical dial which shows us brown, yellow, honey and golden tones. Also, the watch is still 100% all original with an unpolished case, small seconds sub-dial, and Syringe hands for the hours and minutes. Generally found on Field and Pilot watches, syringe hands look like baton-hands to which a thin pointy end was added, hence the nickname. They are generally accompanied by fully-graduated minute tracks (as can also be seen on this Eterna’s dial) and were eminent for mid-century military watches and military chronographs. To us it’s clear, this design of having Syringe hands in combination with this type of dial lay-out, especially manufactured during the 1940’s, screams (military) Field watch. Stainless steel is another thing, now taken for granted, stainless steel watch-cases were also becoming more prevalent in watch manufacturing during the 1940s. Stainless steel offered durability and resistance to corrosion, making it a suitable material for watches, especially during wartime when the demand for robust and reliable timepieces increased. This Eterna case was carved from stainless steel and was ‘adorned’ with some nice beveling on top of the bezel and on the four lugs, as the watch remains unpolished, this beveling is still clearly visible, and despite all the battle scars, is still very attractive to any watch aficionado’s eye.

WatchWorks doesn’t sell much Vintage Eterna timepieces, but when we saw the Eterna we have on offer here, our watch-hearts just started beating faster, simply because it ticks many collectors boxes; From the tropical dial to the unpolished case, including the military style of dial design: It’s simply a fantastic timepiece. This Eterna Tropical ‘Field Watch’ was fully serviced by our Swatch Group certified watchmaker and will be sold with our extensive two year warranty.