. for the citizen science game see eterna . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message eterna ag uhrenfabrik industry watch manufacturing founded 1856 by josef girard and urs schild headquarters grenchen switzerland website www.eterna.ch eterna detail eterna matic cal . 1414u 1958 eterna is a swiss luxury watch company founded in grenchen canton solothurn on 7 november 1856 by josef girard and urs schild . 1 the company is now owned by hong kong based citychamp watch & jewellery group limited an investment holding company formerly known as china haidian holdings until 2014 . contents 1 history 2 milestones 3 collections 4 gallery 5 references 6 external links history edit on 7 november 1856 dr. joseph girard and urs schild a 28 year old school teacher founded the bauche factory dr. girard & schild . eight years later the enterprise set out the mutual rights and obligations of employees and employers in writing . urs schild became a national councilor in 1882 . six years later he died at the age of 58 . after the death of urs schild his son max took over the company and soon made a business trip to the united states . he returned to introduce machinery to the craftsmen . max schild was ahead of his time and his ideas were unpopular . discouraged he left the company and handed power over to his brother theodore with whom eterna entered a prosperous 20th century . citation needed in the 1900s wristwatches were just starting to become fashionable . schild fr res as the company was then known started to produce ladies wristwatches adapted from small pocket watches . in 1905 the company changed its name to eterna . the company continued to be at the leading edge of watch development and in 1908 it patented the first alarm wristwatch . the watch went into production in 1914 and was launched at the swiss national exhibition in berne that year . citation needed by 1932 eterna had set up a subsidiary company eta sa to make movements for itself and other swiss watch companies . this same year theodore retired and handed over the control of the company to his nephew rudolf schild . theodore remained on the board of directors after retirement until his death in 1950 . citation needed eterna produced many innovations in their history the smallest production wristwatch with a baguette movement in 1930 an eight day alarm watch in the 1930s and their first automatic watch in 1938 . citation needed in 1948 eterna advanced self winding watch technology with the development of the eterna matic automatic movement . the use of five strategically placed ball bearings made the movement very efficient and significantly reduced friction and resistance on the oscillating weight that wound the mainspring . this reduced the wear and tear on internal parts increasing the watch s accuracy and useful life . the new watch became popular soon is probably the most famous eterna watch and may be one of eterna s greatest designs . its popularity was such that in 1948 eterna adopted the image of five balls as its corporate logo . citation needed after 1982 eterna was sold several times . by 1995 it was owned by fap beteiligungs gmbh . in 1999 eterna produced a range of watches marketed under the porsche design label . porsche design sold eterna to international volant ltd a subsidiary of china haidian on 30 june 2012 . citation needed china haidian was renamed in 2014 to citychamp watch & jewellery group limited . in the 2000s eterna resumed manufacturing watches and creating the calibre 6036 in 2004 . the ultra thin automatic 3030 was produced for the 150th anniversary in 2006 . in 2009 half century after the eterna matic the spherodrive once again highlighted the significance of tiny ball bearings in mechanical watchmaking . the company remains active in wristwatch design . 2 milestones edit the 1870s the first watch built entirely in house 1908 patent filed for the world s first wrist alarm clock 1910 grand prix honors at the brussels world exhibition 1914 the first serially produced wrist alarm clock is introduced 1930 designs of the smallest production wristwatch with a baguette movement 1948 birth of the friction reducing ball bearing mounted rotor system and production of the eterna matic 1947 the kon tiki a tribute to the expedition of the norwegian explorer thor heyerdahl in 1947 the 1950s actresses including gina lollobrigida and brigitte bardot wear the golden heart 1956 the 100th anniversary centenaire automatic . 1962 the thinnest men s watch with an automatic movement and a date vindow the eterna matic 3000 dato with a movement height of 3.6 mm . the 1980s the museum line breaks the thinness record in all categories . the quartz wristwatch has a thickness of only 0.98 . 1980 eterna receives the grand prix triomphe de l excellence europ enne . 2006 for the company s 150th anniversary the automatic calibre 3030 is released . collections edit adventic vaughan madison heritage centenaire 1948 kontiki tangaroa artena contessa gallery edit eterna 1925 eterna detail references edit brunner gisbert l. ; pfeiffer belli christian ; downing alan ; hunter stephen ; lesou f jean luc ; schmitt ingrid 1999 . wristwatches armbanduhren montres bracelets . k ln germany k nemann im tandem . isbn 978 382900660 6 . oclc 716528869 . brunner gisbert l 2006 . pfeiffer belli christian ed . eterna pioneers in watchmaking since 1856 . ulm germany ebner ; eterna . isbn 978 3 03300985 1 . external links edit official website of eterna a closer look at eterna watches by click tempus authority control worldcat identities viaf 152224090 lccn n2008050440 gnd 5535660 6 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title eterna & oldid 730131717 categories swiss watch brandswatch brandswatch manufacturing companies of 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