The Eterna Caliber 1453 is a historically important automatic movement from the golden era of Swiss ébauche production, and it remains a favorite among vintage watch collectors and tinkerers for its robust design and clean architecture. It belongs to the Eterna-Matic 1400 family, a series of mid‑20th century automatic calibers that powered many well‑made Eterna and third‑party watches in the 1950s–60s.
Why Collectors and Watchmakers Like It
It’s a classic, well‑proven ébauche movement with a simple, reliable automatic winding system, making it a solid choice for vintage restoration projects.
The movement is widely used in both Eterna and non‑Eterna brands, so finding donor watches or spare parts (like balance wheels, arbors, and setting parts) is still quite feasible.
Watchmakers appreciate its straightforward gear train and clear visual layout, which makes servicing, demagnetizing, and regulating easier than many modern micro‑rotor movements.
Many variants of Cal. 1453 have a “quickset” date (often called “Dato” in Eterna), which is a useful feature for frequent users and adds charm to vintage pieces.
Key Technical Specification Section
Type: Automatic, self‑winding (no hand‑wind only version; usually a 142x or 145x variant is manual).
Size: Typically 13½ ligne (about 30.4 mm diameter) and around 5.8–6.0 mm thick with date; non‑date versions are slightly thinner.
Jewels: 17 or 21 jewels, depending on specific variant and date/no‑date configuration.
Frequency: Usually 18,000 vibrations per hour (2.5 Hz), which is typical for vintage Eterna automatics of that era.
Escapement: Lever escapement with a flat hairspring and a poise‑adjusted screw‑balance.
Power reserve: Around 40–45 hours when fully wound, typical for non‑extreme vintage automatics.
Date function: Date with a quickset via the crown (second position), characteristic of the later Eterna-Matic 1400 family.
Shock protection: Often equipped with Eterna’s proprietary shock protection system (Eterna‑U), which holds up well in daily wear.
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Watch Parts Enquiry
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Stem, Crown, Hands & Spares might be available for this movement.
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