Here`s my latest auisition: Zenith Handwinding, 20 microns rose gold,caliber 120, NOS,original crown,strap and clasp from a Teheran jeweler. Enjoy, Reiner
Nice one, doesn't sound correct shouting "dibs" when it has only arrived on your wrist - but heh who's concerned about correct - Dibs Wear in good health
First chance if you ever decide to part with it - at a 50% discount to forum members. I made the last part up Tbh honest took me a little while to fathom out what dibs was.
I don't recall ever having seen a Zenith of the period with the jewel count on the dial. Anyone else?
Hi Simon, since many years I`m a seriously collector of vintage Omega wristwatches. For me it`s very important, that the watches should be completely original(case, dial, movement,strap and clasp). See my other watches in this forum. The Zenith above I purchased at my watchmaker, where I bought my vintage watches since several years. Never he sold me a marriage!. Under my supervision he opens the watches, so I can see movement condition, stamps of watchmaker and brand,movement number, inner case back, reference,etc. I´m a fanatic!. The Zenith above is Lagerware from a watchmaker in Iran. The movement is the wonderful untouched caliber 120 (compare with the pic from a Zenith essay). Inner case back completely original with original Zenith sign. The dial is black, factory originally printed, lume on star ,hands and hour markers. The original second hand was a little bit corroded, so we replaced it by a yellow gold hand. In the next days a profi will rose gold plate the original hand and then we replace it again. In my eyes this watch is completely original!!!! Reiner
Hi LouS, what`s a jewel count? Zenith star? Sorry, I`m german! The watch above dates from the late fifties or early sexties. The movement inside (Cal. 120) was produced from 1953 to 1962 (see attached list!) The watch above for the asien market is completely original(see my statement to Simon!). Reiner
Hi LouS, now I understand! You mean the number of jewels. If you look at my answer to Simon, you will see that the caliber 120 has 18 jewels!!! Reiner
Reiner, I agree the 120 has 18 jewels. I am saying that I have not seen Zeniths with the number of jewels written on the dial. The "18 jewels" is so rare in Zenith that - in combination with the black color - makes me suspect a repainted dial.
Just came home from work so i could not respond. Just what LouS say,s, my feeling it isnot factory original. Hope there is someone around to prove me wrong.
If the star is painted on the dial, rather than applied metal, it can have lume in it. Some examples:
Hi LouS, thanks for the pictures of these 3 Zenith watches. Please answer to my question: Why should someone "create" a repainted dial, when the overall condition of this watch(case,stamps,movement,crown and clasp)is absolutely untouched? The lume on the star,on the hands and the hour markers is not new but contemporary. The words Zenith, 18 Jewels and Swiss Made and the minute markers are so accurately printed as I know from my mint Omegas! And why should a counterfeiter print 18 Jewels, if the "original" dial features only the star and the word Zenith? Do you know exactly, that Zenith watches of the early sixties, which had gone to the middle east (Teheran) didn`t feature the number of jewels on the dial? I don`t know. Is it possible to get a "Stammbuchauszug" from Zenith to get further informations? See another pic: the second hand in yellow gold was replaced by my watchmaker under my supervision, because the original hand was a little bit spotted. We will replace it, when it is rose gold plated! Greetings Reiner
I certainly don't know, Reiner, and I didn't say I did. I said simply that this was very out of the ordinary. As for the rest of your question - you are asking why would someone redial a watch? We can have that sort of discussion until sun sets -perhaps this dial didn't start with this watch, for example. In any case, I don't regard it as proved that this is a repainted dial. The presence of the luminescent material in fact suggests otherwise, as you have written. I merely regard it with caution for the reasons I said. That's my opinion. Certainly, you have the watch in hand, and are in a better position to examine it closely to determine its originality. We would all like to get more information from Zenith itself - it would resolve all kinds of issues. So far, apart from a few very well connected collectors, the information is not generally available.
Hi LouS, I`m very sad. Yesterday I was at a watchmaker friend, who has a lot of experience with vintage watches, because he was Omega Concessionaire for more than fifty years(Schmeltzer Antik, Duisburg, Germany). He repairs and sells vintage watches for a long long time and I am a frequent customer for several years. We looked at the dial of this Iran watch with a strong watchmakers loup and we saw in the middle of the "four" , that the colour was a bit brighter than the other dial. He said, maybe the dial has been repainted, although the dial script looks like factory original. What should I do? I prefer original dials. Should I give it back to the seller?
Reiner, I'm sorry to hear it. In your place, I would return it if you have that option. With Roessler in hand, I think you can use that money to do better than this.
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