My grandfather's Zenith 146 hp?

ConElPueblo

Just to make it clear, that is NOT a rule on Omegaforums.

Syrte

Welcome to the forum, I don’t know much about Zenith so cannot answer your questions, but I can say I find it really good looking and the design is typical of the 1960s.
Best regards

CaptainWinsor

Beautiful piece! Late 1960s by the case number. It’s referred to as a reverse Panda dial because of the Black base and White sub dials. We don’t give values here but it’s quite a bit.

preacher

Wellcome!
Your grandfather watch is a really WOW watch. 146 HP is the name of the movement, the correct reference is A2711, for a pricing valuation search on Google.
The watch looks in great conditions to me, dial fantastic and I think case never polished! I think also crown is correct (need better photos).
I think it’s about 1968 but if you want you can ask an archive extract to Zenith, it’s quite easy to do and costs 80 euros.
DON’T SELL IT!!!

Dan S

Very nice and collectible chronograph. Unfortunately, I think the tip of the sweep seconds hand has broken off, and the hand itself is rusty, but otherwise it seems to be in nice condition. The movement was made by the Martel company, and similar movements were also used by Universal Geneve in their chronographs. I think the value is realistically in the general area of $2,500 USD in its current condition if you were to sell to a collector or on eBay. Other people may have different opinions on value, and honestly it's difficult to do a precise valuation without better photos and more information. Obviously, professional dealers will ask higher prices when they sell this reference. The strap is too narrow for the watch.

redpcar

noob 😉

I'll throw out $100. Beautiful watch, btw.

With Google at the fingertips these days, it's not hard to find some comparables. Pretty rare. Please hang on to it and let us know if you want to have it serviced. Plenty of people here can make recommendations.

khmt2

You have a very nice unpolished example of quite a rare AH 2711 reference from the 60s. See the link below for info on this reference from Zenith themselves.

https://omegaforums.net/threads/the-so-called-rare-cal-146-hp-reverse-panda.56806/page-2#post-726883

I echo the recommendations to get it serviced by a competent watchmaker and to hang onto it.

Syrte

If you are in Istanbul Turkey I can ask someone who might know.

Syrte

Unfortunately the person I know says he takes his watches to Izmir for repair, and doesn't know anyone he'd feel comfortable recommending in Istanbul. Sorry. You could try asking on a Turkish forum --not sure there's anyone from Turkey here.

But you have to be very careful no matter what.
The first watchmaker I used was dishonest even though his name was mentioned as "serious" on a watch forum.
I found out he had lied only after a watchmaker closer to me took a second look inside one of the watches.

For a watch that is so precious as this one, you might well do like people here: ship your watch to someone who's very strongly recommended, even if it means sending it to a foreign country.

There's a thread you can search for on the forum about choosing a watchmaker.
It is key to ensure the watchmaker you go to is transparent and honest with you.
It is also key to say you only want a movement service -- and that you do not want ANYTHING done to the outside of the watch to make it look "better" or more new. No polishing, no removing scratches, no machine, no change of luminous material on the dial.
Polishing the crystal is okay, however.