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Vintage Tonneau El Primero Crystals

  1. ezinternet Nov 7, 2014

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    I was wondering what was the profile of the plastic crystal on the early El Primero tonneau cased watches?

    So I looked at the examples in my collection, and I've got three different ones, at least.

    What I assume is my most original watch, the A385 Khaki, has a tall crystal whose straight-sides rise to a slight dome. From the way that the light reflects or refracts when viewed from the side, I will call this a two-storey dome.

    My A3817 has an unsigned crown, so it has been serviced it somewhere in life, and it sports a still-tall-crystal but different than the A385 above, one that is lower. Call it one-storey dome.

    Then my A3818 Cover Girl has the lowest crystal of all - slightly domed it feels almost flush to the case with almost no vertical height. Ummm ... call it a ranch-house dome?

    Is there some agreement about what was the first, original, El Primero crystal for this model?

    What is available these days as a replacement?

    -ez



    A385
    A385 Khaki 1.jpg A385 Khaki 2.jpg


    A3817
    A3817 Tri-color 1.jpg A3817 Tri-color 2.jpg



    A3818
    A3818 Blue 1.jpg A3818 Blue 2.jpg


    Here are the three domes lined up in the same order as above:

    A385-A3817-A3818.jpg
     
    A384 Panda 1.jpg A384 Panda 3.jpg
    Dogmann likes this.