# What does ETA mean?



## SteveDodds (Sep 8, 2008)

I have read on here quite a bit the letters eta. What does that mean?


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## stumpy1972 (Jun 27, 2007)

ETA is a Swiss company that produces mechanical watch movements. I believe they are owned by the Swatch Group.


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## JimH (Jan 15, 2007)

SteveDodds said:


> I have read on here quite a bit the letters eta. What does that mean?


ESA stood for Ebauches SA but the name, ETA, doesn't stand for anything. There has been speculation that the name derives from ETernA but I know of no confirmation of this.


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## wxman (Dec 11, 2006)

JimH said:


> ESA stood for Ebauches SA but the name, ETA, doesn't stand for anything. There has been speculation that the name derives from ETernA but I know of no confirmation of this.


It does. Is this even a controversial point?


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## wxman (Dec 11, 2006)

I didn't mean to be flip in the prior post, but I do think its a fact that the ETA movement was introduced by a division within Eterna, whether they chose the name ETA at random I do not know.


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## JimH (Jan 15, 2007)

wxman said:


> I didn't mean to be flip in the prior post, but I do think its a fact that the ETA movement was introduced by a division within Eterna, whether they chose the name ETA at random I do not know.


ETA AG was formed in 1932 as a subsidiary to Eterna and was a member of Ebauches SA. In 1982 all the remaining ebauches left in Ebauches SA were merged into ETA. Thus, through a process of merging & elimination, the only part of Ebauches SA left was ETA.

While it's logical to assume that the name ETA comes from ETernA the official ETA history makes no mention of this so it's still speculative. It may have had a different meaning to the originators but there is no one left who would know for sure.


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## SteveDodds (Sep 8, 2008)

Thanks for the answers. I had seen the letters ETA on here a lot and I was curios what everybody was talking about. Thanks.


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## wxman (Dec 11, 2006)

JimH said:


> ETA AG was formed in 1932 as a subsidiary to Eterna and was a member of Ebauches SA. In 1982 all the remaining ebauches left in Ebauches SA were merged into ETA. Thus, through a process of merging & elimination, the only part of Ebauches SA left was ETA.
> 
> While it's logical to assume that the name ETA comes from ETernA the official ETA history makes no mention of this so it's still speculative. It may have had a different meaning to the originators but there is no one left who would know for sure.


Interesting. I think I had a different take on the while question. In my mind, Eterna is credited with creating the ETA movement. So, the ETA name came from Eterna, I suppose the loose end you (rightly) bring up is whether ETA derives from the name Eterna. To me that would seem self-evident, but perhaps not.


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## Roland Ranfft (Mar 29, 2006)

Hi wxman,



> In my mind, Eterna is credited with creating the ETA movement.


Yes end no: In 1932 Swiss laws forced the separation of movement- 
and watch manufacturing, i.e. manufacturers were not allowed to
simultaneously sell ebauches or finished movements, and apply them 
in their own watches.

So the ebauche devision of Eterna was separated, but only financially.
Eterna and ETA continued to share the same factory building, and even
both moved into a new building in 1941. In 1944 both were still listed as
one company: ETA-Eterna.

Last not least, nothing more than a law was satisfied, while the narrow
cooperation never stopped. And in fact the most popular ETA movements
of today are genuine Eterna designs: The Eterna 1541 existed some 
5 years before it was launched as ETA 2824, and the Eterna 1504 two
years before it was renamed to ETA 2892.

Almost always new designs were first restricted to Eterna watches, before
they became avalable for competitors.

Regards, Roland Ranfft


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## Janne (Apr 16, 2007)

And one more ( sorry, guys, a very stupid one!) question about ETA.
Is it pronounced " E-Te-A" (three letters separately) or
Eta - one world?


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## alan141 (Oct 14, 2007)

Elegance Technology Accuracy.

Don't know if that's what it originally meant, but those are the words that are on their website...


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## lysanderxiii (Oct 4, 2006)

Janne said:


> And one more ( sorry, guys, a very stupid one!) question about ETA.
> Is it pronounced " E-Te-A" (three letters separately) or
> Eta - one world?


Either way, whichever way makes you happy.


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