Im seriously considering buying this watch, been one of my grail pieces for quite some time, anybody like miami vice?? Anyways, zenith el premiro encased in a chunk of 18k gold.. I love me some ebel....
Unfortunately, running well means nothing with El Primeros, so you will want to factor in the cost of a service, if you plan to use it. That will likely set you back $500-700 with parts extra. I sent one in for service last year that kept perfect time and had very good amplitude on a time grapher. It had been services 6 years earlier by Zenith and I had owned it for a year. According to my experienced watchmaker, there were a number of lubrication points that were bone dry and incurring wear. One of these was a post on the main plate that cannot be repaired without changing the entire main plate. I was lucky in that it was still usable.
Was definitely planning on sending for service and currently negotiating now. Was yours an Ebel? I have other Ebel watches that I've sent to movado group with good results and the pricing is not as bad as rolex/omega but I suspect that this type of movement will like you said be in that 700 range.. Thanks for input I'll let you know what happens, really like the piece and as stated before it's always been one that I've wanted.
It will be interesting to see if Movado group still provides service to the El Primero movement. The LVMH group controls Zenith and they have a very tight grip on the parts supply.
Did finally talk to movado group. According to them, they still service the zenith El premiro base caliber and can still get parts although she did say sometimes depending on whats needed might have to be shipped to Switzerland..