Eterna Madison Eight Days with Eterna Spherodrive

Prior to making it's debut in the upcoming 2010 Baselworld watch industry exhibition, Eterna have unveiled a new addition to their collection due out later this year. The Eterna Madison Eight Days is a very good-looking piece indeed and features Eterna's new 'Spherodrive' in-house manufacture hand-wound mechanical movement.

While it can be argued that Eterna do not market themselves as aggressively as many other high-end manufacturers and thereby to some extent do not carry the same kudos as some of their competitors, a look through their collections on their own site reveals a range of mostly desirable models, so although making their first appearance here on TheWatchPress, I have the feeling it won't be a one-and-only appearance for Eterna here.

The new Madison Eight Days is an elegant gent's watch in a polished stainless steel tonneau 53.3 x 38.5mm case, height: 13.25mm. It features an attractive dial available in silvered, grey or black, with 'cobbled' centre panel and sunray surround with applied baton hour markers and numerals. The big date window is at the two o'clock position and the eight day power reserve indicator between the 7 and 8. A sapphire crystal exhibition caseback displays the new Eterna Spherodrive calibre 3510 movement.

So what is this Spherodrive then? It's all to do with how they have replaced commonplace components such as rubies which are used as bearings in the main moving parts.  Rubies require relubrication with viscous oils at service and will also eventually wear, over time allowing side-to-side movement (say, of the arbor pinion which goes through the centre of the spring barrel and which is under constant tension) where there should be none.

Eterna have instead devised a solution which should reduce wear and eliminate completely the need for lubrication with these parts being replaced with a double ball bearing component whose encased zirconium oxide bearings require no lubrication at all.

The Eterna Madison Eight Days will be priced at around €8,500 when it goes on sale at selected Eterna dealers late 2010.