There was a diver in the Zenith family which I had my eye on. Finally one went up for sale on another forum, jumped on it and I was very lucky to be the first of several responses made to the seller. The watch arrived last week and I was in awe. Well, that always happens to me. Here's sharing a few pictures and hope you like it too. First off, the catalogue. Care to guess which is my purchase? Should be an easy guess. It's 40.5mm across excluding the crown. Considerably big for a watch in those days qualifying it to be a dive watch. Don't think I will even swim with it though. Not a nato star crown. Is mine a later replacement? No paddle on my chrono seconds hand either. Pretty 146 H. Finally a group shot of the reverse panda with two other pandas. Thanks for looking!
Congratulations, Gavin! I am partial to the black subdial hands like yours. I like the paddle central seconds hand on mine, but yours is just as nice. They are all very special. I am wearing my new-to-me Autavia 2446c GMT right now and somehow I prefer the Zenith! I think the crown on yours is non-original, but then again, your A277 has a 146H inside as opposed to the seemingly more common 146HP found in this watch. I am sure others will be able to add insight on both points. For reference, here is the crown on mine:
Thanks guys for your kind words. I vaguely remember yours have the blue subdial hands? And I am with you on the preference over the Autavia. Looks like I am also with you in the hunt for the ZF endpieces and bracelet.