Did Thor Hyderdahl really wear an Eterna watch on his expedition? SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

kippyk
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”I have never seen borders. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.” - Thor Hyderdahl

The Eterna Watch makes some great looking watches. Their Kon-Tiki watches have honored Thor Hyderdahl's amazing expedition from South America to Polynesia for decades.
eterna_super_kontiki_1973_by_miguel_seabra_1_crop_790x593.jpg

According to the Eterna website, everyone on the original expedition wore an Eterna watch:

"Strapped to his wrist, each Kon-Tiki crew member carried an Eterna timepiece, the contribution of one of the few watch manufacturers of the day to have truly mastered watchcase watertightness"

Hodinkee has a nice article about the watch and if Thor Hyderdahl wore an Eterna.

The Eterna Kontiki watch came out in 1958, and again, it seems unlikely that Eterna would have given the watch that name, and used Heyerdahl's expeditions in its marketing, were the connection not legitimate. However, we've been unable to find any direct evidence that Heyerdahl's watch was an Eterna - or any record of its fate.

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/six-missing-explorers-watches-whose-fate-wed-love-to-know

Surprisingly, there is really no evidence anywhere on the internet that helps solve this mystery. So I flew to Oslo to begin my investigation. It took about 10 minutes to solve. Below is my picture from the Kon-Tiki Museum in Oslo that shows the watch that they wore: the Longines Paratrooper WWII Military Model.

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Scepticalist
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Does that really disprove them wearing Eterna though? It's quite possible that as they were navigating without modern aids they wanted a very accurate watch as the expedition chronometer and that the members also wore Eterna watches.
 
kippyk
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Knut Magne Haugland was on the expedition and died in 2010. He was one of the radio operators on the expedition and fought for the Norwegian resistance in WWII. He also was the director of the Kon-Tiki museum. It seems reasonable he wore a Longines Paratrooper watch in WWII. There is no way that someone that wore a military watch as a saboteur and resistance fighter in WWII would switch watch brands for this expedition. I have a feeling that the watch at the museum is his. He waned to keep the true history of the expedition intact as the Eterna marketing of the voyage grew in the years following.

It is also possible that Thor Hyderdahl wore an Eterna. Thor Hyderdahl was searching for funding for the expedition any way he could. He might have made a "marketing" deal with Eterna but allowed his technical expert to select a different chronometer. A sponsor of the expedition was Eterna, but the true timekeeper was Longines.

Knut Magne Haugland preparing for the voyage.

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http://www.arrl.org/news/last-surviving-crew-member-of-i-kon-tiki-i-expedition-passes-away
 
Shabbaz
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Haha. Sorry for bringing this back to life. But
that does'nt look like a paratrooper, right?

📖
 
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Shabbaz
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Here they threw all the eterna's in the ocean and one guy tried to save them. Look at both of the arms of all expedition members. No watches at all. 😁
 
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Shabbaz
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Could it be... ? 😁

Caliber 1159. Looking at his wrist the watch looks like a 37mm. Black around the numerals. Caliber is from app. 1947, the year the kontiki expedition started. Case design looks the same.
 
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Tri-national-man
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.. I remember seeing a Rolex GMT Master ad in a 1970s National Geographic featuring Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon Tiki..
 
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Shabbaz
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Tri-national-man Tri-national-man
.. I remember seeing a Rolex GMT Master ad in a 1970s National Geographic featuring Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon Tiki.. No?
I dont know. But I do know for 99% that's not a longines paratrooper on his arm on the above pictures.
 
Peemacgee
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Tri-national-man Tri-national-man
.. I remember seeing a Rolex GMT Master ad in a 1970s National Geographic featuring Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon Tiki..

this is a very clever bit of (misleading) advertising by Rolex (surely not! you all cry in unison)
“the watches used by Thor Heyerdahl.....are Rolex”
Not were Rolex. (On Kontiki etc)
 
Shabbaz
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Tri-national-man Tri-national-man
.. I remember seeing a Rolex GMT Master ad in a 1970s National Geographic featuring Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon Tiki..
I dont think that's the kontiki raft.
Edited:
 
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S
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Very amusing all these claims and counter claims. Just shows what a bit of inspired product placement Omega pulled off with the speedy. They have certainly got their moneys worth with 60 years of sales on the back of that usage. Did I hear right that NASA asked Rolex for watches but Rolex turned them down?
 
Tri-national-man
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S slavedata
Very amusing all these claims and counter claims. Just shows what a bit of inspired product placement Omega pulled off with the speedy. They have certainly got their moneys worth with 60 years of sales on the back of that usage. Did I hear right that NASA asked Rolex for watches but Rolex turned them down?
Rolex were part of the test watches but failed.. That said, a personal GMT Master made it on several flights I believe..
 
Peemacgee
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Shabbaz Shabbaz
I dont think that's the kontiki raft.

It’s Tigris, successor to Ra II
Reed boat (Ra was a Papyrus based boat) rather than balsa wood raft. (Kontiki)
 
Radiumpassion
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Story goes that Heyerdahl bought the Longines «tuna can» as army surplus.
Never seen a photo of him wearing it thoug😀
 
Professor
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Shabbaz Shabbaz
Here they threw all the eterna's in the ocean and one guy tried to save them. Look at both of the arms of all expedition members. No watches at all. 😁
After they ran out of Plantains they ate their shoes, socks, belts and finally their watchbands to survive. Afterwards they carried their watches in their underwear.
 
amcclell
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Tri-national-man Tri-national-man
.. I remember seeing a Rolex GMT Master ad in a 1970s National Geographic featuring Thor Heyerdahl and the Kon Tiki..
I read the ad and it looks like Rolex may have provided watches for the Ra expeditions. There was a movie made about these, so the product placement would be consistent with their marketing strategy at the time. They also ran ads connected to Peter Benchley an Jaws.
 
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