A386 Stay/Go?

Charger_Vital

I'm considering selling my A386 mark 2 with the correct crown, hands, tachy, dial, caseback, etc., to make room for one of my grails (just got the call from the AD this week). I've been trying to come up with a fair price for the a386, but there does not seem to be many credible benchmarks. The few that are available on Chrono24 range between $15k and $36k, with a couple in the $20k range. Quite a spread with no real indicators on why these models vary so widely. Plus, these prices seem patently insane anyway. There is also one from Albania that has been listed on ebay for a while for about $12k, but the crown is wrong as are the subdial hands... So I'm not sure than one is a good benchmark either.

I'm not desperate to sell it, but I don't wear it enough to appreciate it... and with the new watch, I'm afraid it will get relegated back to the safe. Any thoughts/advice on whether I should just keep it... Sell it... and pricing if I do sell?

Your thoughts, criticisms, advice, slanderous rants, and demeaning comments are all welcomed!!!

Charger_Vital

Here are the photos

godsrival

looks lovely and would vote to keep

TexOmega

How do you evaluate your own watch?


I see a variety of issues that would place it on the lower end of my evaluation.

Dial, case and lume.


Help us help you. What do you see compared to the very top examples?

bazamu

To be fair, @TexOmega, yours is maybe the most amazing A386 in existence 😉🥰

The market is certainly very, very nuanced for A386 examples. For what it's worth, I can provide my thoughts on the private market valuation of my own A386 and you can perhaps work backwards from there (Note: I am not selling mine, nor do I have any intention to any time soon - these are special watches with a valuable, still underappreciated history in horology).

Assessment:
- The case is completely unpolished and unblemished (10/10)
- The dial has no aging or spotting and the colors (including matte white portion) remain vibrant - though the lume is lighter than @TexOmega's, it is consistent and attractive to the eye (9.5/10)
- Hands are all correct
- Comes with the correct Zenith ladder bracelet and end links
- Is in working order with no issues.

From what I've observed over the past couple of years, A386's tend to trade as low as $8-10K and as high as the mid-$20K range. The minimum that I would ever entertain for a sale is probably ~$25K. More realistically, I would not part with it for below $27.5K. Would I get that? Who knows, but the market is quite fickle, depth of the examples matters most, and I find that examples like mine are seldom seen.

Comparing to yours:
- Has a nice case - not perfect, but bevels are intact and it doesn't appear to be soft (8/10).
- It is hard to fully judge the condition of the dial based on the interior lighting, but it looks like the matte white portion may have some aging (more of a cream color). The lume is quite dark, both in hands and applied indices. I'd rate it at a 5/10.
- Tachy scale also appears to have scuffing and damage - would result in a deduction to value.
- Hands are correct
- It comes with the correct bracelet and end links - pro for valuation.

This is solely my opinion, but in the context of everything that noted above, I would value it at ~half of my "minimum" price noted above.

Additionally, I would place zero emphasis on listings like this: https://www.craftandtailored.com/co...ion/products/1970s-zenith-el-primero-ref-a386

TexOmega

My intention was not to shame, but to ascertain your assessment of your example.

then, we can add/subtract in a more objective assessment.

Was I misreading your reason for starting this thread?

my apologies if so.

wristpirate

@Charger_Vital Some more photos taken outside in natural sunlight would show your watch in it's best light.

The caseback on yours is seldom seen, very few examples have that type. The logo appears to be etched on (like is seen on the Zenith A271 of the late 60s).

The bracelet and end links are not vintage parts so take that into account when valuing it.

Charger_Vital

Here are the photos

TexOmega

How did the sale go?