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Recommended Zenith Watches On Ebay (Not Inquires)

LouS
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MSNWatch MSNWatch
I'm not a zenith expert by any stretch but that watch looks like a poor redial.

That's what I think too. Fonts are wrong, the whole thing is overinked and I've never seen a silver finish like that on any vintage subdial on the far side of 1970. I'd love to see your 106-6 that looks similar.
 
MMMD
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There are now some additional photos of the A384 mentioned above. Edges are probably within MMMD tolerances, but do they meet the LouS standard, i.e. can this watch do double-duty as a grater for your parmigiano reggiano?
 
U
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Happiness is a case edge so crisp you can slice tomatoes with them. 馃槈 Same with the pleat in my slacks.
 
Stewart H
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DSC00531.jpg
LouS LouS
I'd love to see your 106-6 that looks similar.

Not looking similar Lou but a silvered (albeit) guilloche sub-dial.
 
Stewart H
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Here's another interesting question.

Let's say you own a G381 El Primero and the dial is faded or a bit tatty. If you were to but this......

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Zenith-El-Pr...rmbanduhren&hash=item1c2e3d103d#ht_5130wt_906

..... and use the dial on your movement in the original case - thus improving its value - nobody would ever know. It isn't a service dial, it isn't a franken and it isn't a refurbished dial. It looks like a nice example of a G381.

Come to think about it, if the movement works well, why even take the dial off - after all the movements don't have serial numbers.

Before anybody asks, I have a G582, not a G381 and they made 600 G582s against 700 G381s, but the cases are the same.

So the question is, would you do it and would you consider it cheating? Is it any different from using any other second hand part in the watch?
 
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MMMD
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Stewart H Stewart H
So the question is, would you do it and would you consider it cheating? Is it any different from using any other second hand part in the watch?

For me it's not cheating at all, as long as the parts are truly indistinguishable... no mucking with serial numbers, etc. Of course, I'm the guy who's assembling his own Espada, and more matchmaker than watchmaker, but I think this sort of thing is a fun part of the game. Recognizing that others might feel differently, I wouldn't misrepresent these exchanges when selling, but I suspect many collectors feel the same way I do.
 
U
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I just put a NOS replacement dial on my late 50's Omega Gen猫ve. It had a bad redial, so I consider it making the watch correct to factory specs again - which is different than original, but just as good to me. If I ever sell it I'll disclose that the dial was replaced with an authentic Omega part identical to original. Better than a redial in my book!

Back in WWII broken Jeeps were cannibalized to make working ones. They were still all correct parts, just not original.

Cheating? No - unless you aren't honest about it when you go to sell it and attempt to pass it off as a watch with all the exact original parts as it came from the factory.
 
LouS
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Stewart H Stewart H
Let's say you own a G381 El Primero and the dial is faded or a bit tatty. If you were to but this......

http://www.ebay.de/itm/Zenith-El-Pr...rmbanduhren&hash=item1c2e3d103d#ht_5130wt_906

That's not a G 381 dial -- it belongs to ref G 581. Roessler misidenfies it. These are available because people melt the gold cases, and they are used most often as replacements for A 384 dials - got an example of that around here someplace - but even there there are differences.

I don't have a G 581 to post, but if Chris will be so kind as to post his, you can compare it with this G 381 to see the differences.
DSC_0317crop.jpg
 
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LouS
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There are now some additional photos of the A384 mentioned above. Edges are probably within MMMD tolerances, but do they meet the LouS standard, i.e. can this watch do double-duty as a grater for your parmigiano reggiano?
Stewart H Stewart H
DSC00531.jpg


Those images are reassuring, although the angle still leaves some uncertainty

Not looking similar Lou but a silvered (albeit) guilloche sub-dial.

Ah, yes, you've shown that before - I love it. But I still think the other is a redial
 
MMMD
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LouS LouS
Ah, yes, you've shown that before - I love it. But I still think the other is a redial

Please address the cheese-grating issue.
 
LouS
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Please address the cheese-grating issue.
Yes, sorry, I meant to and I forgot. The additional pics are very reassuring. I'd call 'em good. The little wrinkle is that I can clearly read the case number: 231E746. There are no "E" series A 384s. Prolly just a caseback switch, but odd.

I'd give this one a buy at the right price.
 
MMMD
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LouS LouS
The little wrinkle is that I can clearly read the case number: 231E746. There are no "E" series A 384s. Prolly just a caseback switch, but odd.

Yeesh. Wrong case back knocks it down a few pegs for me. Possibly a deal-breaker. What are the possibilities? Case back taken from another model? Dial and hands swapped into an A 385/3817/3818? Replacement case back from Zenith? Maybe the whole watch was a special order? Can I live with the uncertainty?
 
U
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MMMD MMMD
Yeesh. Wrong case back knocks it down a few pegs for me. Possibly a deal-breaker. What are the possibilities? Case back taken from another model? Dial and hands swapped into an A 385/3817/3818? Replacement case back from Zenith? Maybe the whole watch was a special order? Can I live with the uncertainty?

Frankenstein.jpg
 
MMMD
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No, no, don't alarm the villagers. This watch means you no harm. It's really the RIGHT case back in all respects except perhaps the case serial number (not the reference number... I think...). I'm not ready to use the F-word here.
 
LouS
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well, it's either a replaced case or a replaced dial, so a franken by the strict definition. It's just that the case is a correct case for the dial and vice versa. I don't have a problem with it on those grounds, but it makes me want to see a movement shot before dropping my hard earned on it
 
MSNWatch
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LouS LouS
Potentially a good find. The problem of course is poor photography. Poor photography generally indicates someone trying to conceal something or a novice seller, so in this case, no prior sales sort of stands Mr. Tex MacDaddy in good stead. You'll note that other watch he is selling is also badly shot, although the boots came out rather well.

Dial and hands look very good. No movement shot unfortunately. My biggest concern is the condition of the case. Certainly, the edges appear sharp, but in that second image, the top edge appears curved. It could be an artefact created by the camera lens, but that's also another way to screw up this case. It typically happens when someone polishes too close to the edge of the crystal and then has to camouflage the error.

Example:
Normal contour
Fig15overpolishnormal.jpg

Botched polishing
Fig14overpolish.jpg

This little issue is easily resolved by asking seller for additional pix. You could suggest to him that he shoot doors under natural light to remove the annoying shadows.

Here's a little promotional literature for you

I actually think the case looks pretty good. At least to my eye, the rest of his pictures suggest not much (if any) case polishing was done on the watch. It also looks like the bids are slowly coming as well and it is being watched by a bunch of people.
 
MMMD
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MSNWatch MSNWatch
A first cousin?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-MOV...878&pid=100034&prg=1079&rk=2&sd=360542171261&
Something like a fraternal twin. This is the version of the Zenith Espada sold in the USA, branded Movado (the two companies were part of the same holding company in the early '70's) to circumvent trademark issues with the Zenith radio corporation. The Astronic is actually more rare than the Espada by production numbers but certainly seen more commonly than the Espada at auction, so clutched less firmly by collectors. The major difference is jewel count - the 3019 PHF's chronograph has been de-jeweled to bring the count down from 31 to 17 and thus save on American import duties (like the Movado Datron). The hour markers are different than the Espada (and to my eye better looking)... apart from these differences, it is a straight-up Espada. As is the case with many Astronics, the crown and clasp are replacements, but this otherwise looks like a pretty sweet example... probably will go between $3.5 - 4k.
I can see it's time to start a Movado-Zenith thread... will try to get this going later today.
 
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LouS
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I can see it's time to start a Movado-Zenith thread... will try to get this going later today.

This is a good idea.
 
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