Need advice: El primero class 4

Hi guys,

Would greatly appreciate some advice and input from the zenith pros.

Am considering my first EP purchase this from a local dealer at a very good price and a 1yr movement warranty. It's a black dial zenith EP 02.0500.400, which came with Italian papers, double box and booklets.

I had two specific questions which the service center was not much help with.

1. The lume on the hour markers look puffy and smudgey. Other examples I've seen online have crisp lume application. Am not sure if this is normal or a sign of reluming/refinishing.

2. The cert. The reference on the cert says 02.0502.400 which doesn't match the caseback which says 02.0500.400. The date on the cert also says 2010 but I understand this reference ran till 2000. The movement-engraved number is also not on the cert (not sure if this is a zenith thing).

Thanks in advance for the help!

For starters as you pointed out the paperwork is jacked up. Now maybe that’s not so important to you and it doesn’t always infer a problem with the watch itself. There is one from a Japanese seller on eBay for $2662 (full set - shipped) and I feel that the Japanese one is legit. Look at the pics of both watches and make your decision. If the local dealer guarantees authenticity I would feel better about it.

Thanks for the valuable advice. I really appreciate it. I saw this listing as well but my concern was the movement (which I understand is a significant consideration for EPs) and if things went sideways (eg movement needs parts to be changed or a service), it would be troublesome to deal with an overseas seller.

The seller told me he doesn't know if the cert and box match the watch, and as such charged a 'watch only price' of 2k USD for the lot. 1yr warranty and a full refund if any part of the watch was not authentic.

What I'm not sure of is the lume degradation on the hour markers, if this is normal or if it's something to be concerned about.

The warranty is nice to have. A full service on this movement is closer to the $700-850 range. The lume can be affected by exposure to light (or lack there of) but also by moisture. Moisture of course is bad but the lume on yours doesn’t look bad to me. A one year warranty on an older El Primero movement for $2000 seems like a riskier endeavor for your dealer but that is a big perk for the buyer

The dial looks fine to me. The inconsistency of the caseback would not be a major concern to me as long as you have confidence that the dealer did a complete service. The certificate is very suspect as I don't know what model the 0502 actually is. I am pretty certain yours posted is a 0500 which dates 10 years prior to the date on the certificate. I think it is a far better deal than the one from Japan, if properly serviced. Zenith EPs are a niche market, so they are not terribly prone to counterfeit or Franken scenario's - especially late 90's to 2000's.

As the above response states, a service is not cheap for these and needs to be done by someone familiar with the EP as there are different lubricants used.

Here's a couple of pics of mine, which I am pretty certain is genuine, bought off a dealer with a 1 year warranty and inspected by my watch maker who agreed. Mine also came with the exact box and papers as in the photo posted by asrnj77, the receipt also did not have the movement serial number but the model No. was correct,
Now, I am by no means an expert but I think the model No's differ by movement and also whether the case was specifically a strap or bracelet. Mine is the strap version and does not have holes through the lugs and is a 400Z movement not 400, also I think the model Number can differ depending on the case manufacturer, I believe that these can differ.
Mine is from mid 00's at the end of the run, I don't think there were any issued past this time, certainly not as late as 2010 unless it was sold as NOS? The lume on the one you are looking at doesn't look very good compared to mine, so maybe just a bit of degradation.
IMHO the one you are looking at is genuine, pre 00's.
Personally I love this style, I have it a couple of years now and it gets an awful lot of wrist time.
BJ

Thank you everyone for chiming in. Really appreciate the great advice and reassurance.

Absolutely love the class 4. Great value and really understated.

Here are pics of mine, I'm not a expert, but I know mine was right. You compare ad decide.