Horological Meandering

craniotes
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The mythical Eterna KonTiki Diver "Concept"...

At the behest of our esteemed JLC forum moderator, I'm posting a little something on this recent acquisition of mine.

First introduced as a concept rendering at Basel 2005, the Eterna KonTiki Diver was supposed to herald Eterna's return to the US marketplace.  Sporting a two-piece case, a mix of construction materials, new gasket technology, and a novel internal bezel mechanism, the KonTiki Diver was a huge departure for this storied brand.  The specifications called for 1000M of water-resistance (still somewhat extreme way back then), and notably, a non-screwdown crown that would supposedly allow for winding while underwater.  And what about that internal bezel?  Well, according to Eterna, it would be a bi-directional affair, that, in spite of its internal nature, would be adjustable via the external bezel ring through an intricate shaft-seal system cribbed from the automotive industry.  According to Eterna, this would be best of both, worlds -- a bi-directional timing ring protected underneath the crystal, yet without the fiddly second crown, that's all but impossible to adjust underwater while wearing diving gloves (I have a 2nd generation IWC Aquatimer 2000, so I know the joys and sorrows of this arrangement...).  A lot of folks scoffed, and claimed that this piece was destined to remain nothing more than a fevered dream, or wishful thinking on the part of Eterna's management.

And for a while, it looked as though the skeptics were right.

Three long years passed, and...  Nothing.  Not a peep.  There was one brave soul on a forum I frequent who was in contact with the lone Eterna AD in Canada, and had put a speculative deposit down on a KonTiki Diver, but as time passed, he looked more and more like Don Quixote tilting at windmills. I, for one, pretty much gave up on the watch, and moved on to other pieces, but that doesn't mean that I gave up hope entirely.  Every now and then I do a little intarwebs research and see what popped up, or check on my erstwhile WIS buddy's progress, but it was a fool's errand.  Until...  Finally, in 2008, our prayers were answered.  Sort of.  The watch would indeed be produced, but the price was far more than anyone anticipated.  Instead of the rumored $4-$5K, the MSRP was projected to be just north of $9K.  Ouch.  By this time, the Rolex DSSD was already on the market, and Omega was gearing up to release its PloProf re-issue into the wild, replete with their newly developed 8500 in-house caliber.   That these two pieces would command such heady prices was a given, but Eterna?  In spite of their history ("ETA", anyone?), and the innovative nature of the KonTiki Diver, this was a lot of scratch for an untested piece that housed a relatively pedestrian ETA 2897 (chronometer-rated, decorated, and with an Eterna-specific rotor, but still).  I didn't care, I was in love, but without a US authorized dealer, I was dead in the water.  Oh, and I didn't have $9K stashed under the matters.  Details, details....

Well, fast-forward to Decemeber 2009, and I'm sitting across from a WIS-buddy who was joining me and a couple of friends for a weekly meeting of the minds that we hold at a bar close to my office in midtown.  This is the first time that he's tossing back a few with the "Rapscallions" (lame, but hey, that's what we call ourselves), so he's loaded for bear.  In addition to a Damasko, AT 3536, and a Linde-Werdelin, he's rocking a -- yup, you guessed it -- KonTiki Diver.  I just about fainted.  It was like seeing sasquatch riding Nessie bareback in Atlantis.  Long story short: It was everything that I had hoped it would be, and more.  Wow.  It had wrist-presence to spare, and in spite of its wild design, it actually "worked" on my wrist.

Well, I won't go into the sordid topic of coin, but after conversing with my buddy (once I was able to reel my tongue back into my mouth), I got the necessary info to run out and get one for myself.  So, with out further ado, here are the pics:









For comparison's sake:


Yup, it's no shrinking violet on the wrist, yet it wears smaller than the photos might lead one to believe.  The two piece case serves as a means to lock the bezel and protect the crown.  When closed, everything is buttoned up tight as a drum, but once the release buttons are depressed, the PVD titanium movement "container" pivots out of the stainless steel "bridge", and allows one to adjust bezel, wind the watch, and generally look cool.  Speaking of that bezel, apparently, it was the reason it took so long for this piece to reach the market place.  As I briefly alluded to earlier, the shaft-seals used to ensure water- resistance, were adapted from automobiles (Porsches, in a nod to Eterna's owners), but it seems that Eterna's engineers ran into some unforeseen issues along the way to my wrist.  Well, I'm glad to say that thus far they're holding steady against my rigorous showering routine, to say nothing of bath time for my three-year old son.  Speaking of the lil' bastard, he refers to the KonTiki as my watch that "opens".  Smart kid.

Phew.

Well, that's all I have time for at the moment, but if anyone's got questions or comments (good and bad -- I've got a thick skin), have at it!  Thanks for looking.

Regards,
Adam