There is a certain joy in a chiming watch: My children certainly consider the Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX1<\/a> to be the highlight of my collection! Vulcain discovered this following their 1947 launch of the famous Cricket, kicking off an alarm watch craze that lasted into the 1970s. But the first alarm wristwatch actually appeared three decades earlier, with a clever and versatile offering from Schild fr\u00e8res\u2019 new Eterna brand! As wristwatches were still in their infancy, this early watch appeared in numerous guises, from the pocket to the wrist to the automobile, and found its way into the trenches of World War I.<\/p>\n What is a watch? The answer was not at all clear in the early years of the 20th century. Pocket watches were dominant, but these varied in size from the smallest ladies\u2019 chatelaine to slim and stylish models for gentlemen to hefty and sometimes complicated tools for timing and chiming. Soldiers and adventurers even began wearing a watch on their wrist, as popularized by the charismatic Brazilian aviator, Alberto Santos-Dumont. And watches were appearing on the dashboards of automobiles and in the pockets of travelers, often with an alarm function.<\/p>\n Although radium painted numerals was reducing the demand for chiming watches<\/a>, alarm clocks were becoming popular in Europe and America. Grenchen-based manufacturer Schild fr\u00e8res saw an opportunity in a simplified alarm movement patented in 1898 by D\u00fcrrstein & Co. of Dresden, Germany1<\/a><\/sup>. Their innovation was the use of a single spring to power both the alarm and timekeeping functions, with a mechanism that prevented the alarm from exhausting the spring entirely while ringing. The alarm was switched on and off using a lever on the back of the movement, accessible through a slot in the inner case back. One additional design choice carried through to the later Eterna movements is the lack of a click on the spring barrel; the alarm mechanism serves to stop the barrel from unwinding. <\/p>\n Schild fr\u00e8res introduced a line of pocket watches with this alarm function between 1898 and 1902. The large 20 ligne movement, Calibre 51<\/a>, featured a novel mechanism to set the alarm time: The knurled bezel was geared internally to the alarm hand<\/a>, allowing the alarm to be set precisely without a second crown or other complex mechanism. This was Shild\u2019s own innovation.<\/p>\n Although many modern claims suggest the Eterna brand was used as far back as 1875, there is no evidence of this. In fact, the Eterna name was trademarked by Schild fr\u00e8res & Co. only on November 11, 1905 and it is not seen prior to this date. It was one of a few brands used by the company in this era, starting with IXL and ICL in the 1890s. The company used the Victoria brand on their alarm watches despite the fact that it was trademarked and used by other companies<\/a>, including L\u00e9on Sichel, Cort\u00e9bert, and Perfecta. Eterna was a much better choice, a unique name with a contemporary sound. Embracing the name, the company was officially re-named \u201cFabriques Eterna, Schild fr\u00e8res & Co\u201d on July 1, 1906.<\/p>\n About 1908, a new alarm watch was introduced using both the Eterna and Victoria brand names. This movement, Calibre 52<\/a>, measured 18 lignes in diameter, and was thinner at 7.3 mm. The power-preserving mechanism was improved, leveraging Gustav H\u00e4usler\u2019s2<\/a><\/sup> patent CH47816 with a visible gear and lever on the back of the movement. And the clever rotating bezel was improved, enabling the alarm to be set in either direction. This was patented in 1908, with subsequent Victoria and Eterna alarm watches featuring patent number 42203 printed on the dial.<\/p>\n Eterna\u2019s alarm watch movement was widely successful, not just in pocket watches but also in the burgeoning market for travel clocks and compact alarm clocks. Victoria and Eterna alarm watches are often still seen at auction, often noting the appearance of \u201c42203\u201d on the dial. The inside case back typically includes H\u00e4usler\u2019s \u201cBrevet 47816\u201d, but D\u00fcrrstein\u2019s patent 17104 soon expired and was no longer mentioned.<\/p>\n Eterna was early to embrace the emerging trend of wristwatches, patenting a case with wire lugs for a \u201cmontre-bracelet\u201d in 1904. By 1909, Eterna advertising regularly included primitive wristwatches alongside pocket watches of various sizes, ultra-thin pocket watches, and the famous alarm watch. The small and slim movements produced by Eterna presented an opportunity: A compact alarm movement.<\/p>\n In May 1914 Eterna appeared at the Swiss National Exhibition in Berne, showing a wide range of watches in five of \u201cthe richest and most interesting\u201d cases at the show. But one offering in particular attracted the attention of Eug\u00e8ne Buffat, correspondent for the Journal Suisse d\u2019Horlogerie: \u201cA 29.5 mm (13 ligne) alarm clock, which is, without a doubt, the world\u2019s first small, factory-made alarm clock.\u201d<\/p>\n This was the new Eterna Calibre 68, the first alarm movement small enough to be used in a wristwatch. It was closely related to the previous Victoria and Eterna alarm movements, sharing a similar overall layout and using the same single-spring power, bezel control, and rear-mounted switch. It even included patent numbers 42203 (on the dial) and 47816 (on the case back) like its larger siblings. At just 5.4 mm thick and 29.5 mm in diameter, Cal. 68 could be used in a wide variety of watches. But how could the company catch the attention of buyers?<\/p>\n Unsure how to proceed, Eterna brought their new compact alarm movement to market in a wide range of products:<\/p>\n Buffat of the Journal said of the watch shown in Berne, \u201cit can be used interchangeably as a wristwatch or, by means of a slide, attached to the steering wheel of an automobile, as shown in one of the illustrations opposite; it is very ingenious.\u201d<\/p>\n The ingenious clip was patented in 1914, and the illustrations give us our best sense of the design. It featured a simple spring lever with a catch, allowing the watch to be slid into a tapered groove and held securely in place. The patent specifically mentions used on a bracelet or automobile steering wheel, but this clip could also be used in other circumstances. Sadly, it does not appear that Eterna pursued this idea, as it is not mentioned again in contemporary sources and I do not know of any such watch appearing at auction or in later coverage.<\/p>\n Although clever and practical, the compact Eterna alarm watch movement appears to have found little success. It is sparingly mentioned in the press between the 1914 introduction and purported phase-out in 1945. Only the most careful historians mention it in their writing: Louis Loze includes the best available photo in his 1956 history of the alarm watch<\/a> for Revue Internationale de l\u2019Horlogerie and Jo\u00ebl Pynson includes this in his 2003 article, \u201cLes Montres-Bracelets-R\u00e9veils<\/a>\u201d for Chronom\u00e9trophilia. It is overlooked or barely mentioned by most other writers and historians, perhaps because it entirely failed to connect with buyers.<\/p>\n The best examination of this pioneering watch came in J\u00f6rg Hein\u2019s 1986 article for Alte Uhren und Moderne Zeitmessung, \u201cEine Fr\u00fche Armbanduhr Mit Wecker<\/a>\u201c. Hein located a soldier\u2019s watch with Eterna\u2019s Cal. 68, carefully describing the clever design of the movement and giving us the only known photos of the movement itself.<\/p>\n Wristwatches were in their infancy in 1914, and the war created new challenges. Although soldiers embraced wristwatches in the trenches, they may not have appreciated the noise or complexity of an alarm watch. Dashboard clocks quickly took hold in the automotive market, with most buyers opting for an 8-day movement. And Swiss and German makers rapidly reduced the price of alarm clocks, opting for cheap pin lever movements in large tabletop models rather than compact portable travel clocks. But perhaps Eterna simply tried to take on too many roles with Cal. 68, failing to make a compelling case in any market: I wish I could find one of the novel clip-on models, but I\u2019m not sure I would wear such a bulky watch!<\/p>\n Those who have covered this rare alarm watch suggest that production was phased out in 1918, though examples continue to be seen as late as 1945. Perhaps Cal. 68 was so unsuccessful that Eterna continued to use new old stock movements for over 20 years?<\/p>\n Ironically, it was just two years later that Vulcain introduced the Cricket, igniting alarm watch fever from Wall Street to the White House and creating a lasting market for alarm wristwatches. But Vulcain was exceptionally clever in their introduction, focusing on efficiency-obsessed American businessmen and making the most of high-profile customers like Presidents Harry S Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Indeed, it became a tradition for the White House Press Corps to present each new president with a Vulcain Cricket for decades. That\u2019s the kind of marketing watch companies today can only dream of!<\/p>\n The world\u2019s first alarm wristwatch wasn\u2019t the famous Vulcain Cricket but the virtually-forgotten Eterna Cal. 68. Based on a German design with roots in the 19th century, Eterna was too early to market with their alarm wristwatch. Although pairing it with a novel interchangeable base and equipping early dress and soldier\u2019s watches with the innovative movement, it failed to find a market or make a lasting mark. Hopefully, articles like this one (following in the footsteps of Jo\u00ebl Pynson, J\u00f6rg Hein, Louis Loze, and Eug\u00e8ne Buffat) will help draw attention to this pioneering watch!<\/p>\n Special thanks to Dr. Miranda Marraccini, Head Librarian at the Horological Society of New York<\/a>, for providing a copy of Hein\u2019s 1986 article. Without it I would not have been sure of the construction or heritage of this important watch movement. And thanks as always to the incredible Watch Library Foundation<\/a>, a reference more useful than I could have dreamed possible!<\/em><\/p>\n \n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There is a certain joy in a chiming watch: My children certainly consider the Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX1 to be the highlight of my collection! Vulcain discovered this following their 1947 launch of the famous Cricket, kicking off an alarm watch craze that lasted into the 1970s. But the first alarm wristwatch actually appeared three decades earlier, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7007141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[179947,188056,188057,99530,188058,98637,188059,188060,179956,188061,104774,179961,188062],"tags":[1405,3884,188063,188064,188065,188066,188067,188068,179968,188069,2253,20887,179971,36177,1227],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7007139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alarm","category-automobile-watch","category-durrstein","category-eterna","category-eugene-buffat","category-history","category-joel-pynson","category-jorg-hein","category-louis-loze","category-miranda-marraccini","category-victoria","category-vulcain-cricket","category-world-war-i","tag-alarm","tag-amazing","tag-automobile-watch","tag-durrstein","tag-eterna","tag-eugene-buffat","tag-joel-pynson","tag-jorg-hein","tag-louis-loze","tag-miranda-marraccini","tag-transforming","tag-victoria","tag-vulcain-cricket","tag-world-war-i","tag-wristwatch"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Rise of the Alarm Watch<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/grail-watch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1898-CH_17104_A-3-Durrstein-Weckervorrichtung-an-Uhren-crop.png?resize=300%2C215&ssl=1)
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The First Alarm Watch for the Wrist and Automobile<\/h2>\n
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An Idea Whose Time Had Not Come<\/h2>\n
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Image: Revue Internationale de l\u2019Horlogerie, November 1956<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nThe Grail Watch Perspective<\/h2>\n
Footnotes<\/h2>\n
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