Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Eterna 'Baby Chrono' Valjoux 69, 1940s
- Maker / attribution
- Eterna (maker)
- Date
- 1940s
- Historical period
- Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 30 mm
- Stock no.
- Product 222063722521
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, S.Song Watches (product 222063722521)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Eterna 'Baby Chrono' Valjoux 69 (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by S.Song Watches (dealer), Seattle (stock number Product 222063722521), this is a wristwatch by Eterna, made in Switzerland, dated 1940s. The Atlas places it in the Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking period (1900 – 1945) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 30 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — S.Song Watches
The first thing you will notice is that this is a small chronograph. And by small, I mean really small- 30mm. To many, this would be considered a ladies watch, but actually, there is a super-niche market, where collectors seek these ‘baby’ chronographs. Eterna was one of the brands that made these baby chronographs, with different dial variants and cases, it seems they carved out a nice segment for themselves specialising in these. There is a lot of complexity to making a small chronograph. Think of it on a basic physical level, the size in itself makes it more difficult to construct, whereas large 45mm watches with huge movements can be assembled much easier. The movement in this Eterna baby chronograph is a very rare one, a Valjoux 69, which in fact is the smallest chronograph movement ever made! Featuring a silver dial with a snail scale and syringe hands filled with luminous material, this is unmistakably vintage in its look and characteristic of the design cues of the 40’s. Though many will turn away due to its small size, matched on a genuine alligator skin strap, this is a very svelte and elegant watch that is perfect under the cuff of a shirt. A bit different and more refined to the tastes of today where the fleeting mindset of ‘the bigger the better’ is the flavour of the day.
Historical context
Golden Age of Mechanical Watchmaking (1900 – 1945)
The wristwatch displaces the pocket watch; waterproof cases, self-winding and grand complications.
The wristwatch overtook the pocket watch. Military use in the First World War, aviation, water-resistant cases (1926), automatic winding (1923–31), rectangular Art Deco designs and early chronographs and calendars defined the period.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Industrial Revolution
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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