The Octagonal Defy

C charlottejoshua

First time poster here to OF. Signed up because of the vintage Zenith Defy series. Question for the experts, other than ebay, are there any other outlets one uses to find good condition Defy models from this era? Really would love to start my vintage collection with one, but am having trouble finding good condition examples that still have the Freres bracelet. Thanks in advance.

Rifish

Hard to say. It seems to be harder year by year to find octagonal Defy that is in good shape (unpolished case and good dial) and with orginal G.F. bracelet. I have been been following for a long time for example Chrono24 and I haven't seen for a while a good example of octagonal Defy. The best ones I've seen have been on sale at my local watchmakers who get them staight from the first owners.

jshaw083

Got mine on Chrono24 for a reasonable price IMO but I've checking since and I agree haven't seen many in good condition.

preacher

What do you think about my defy plongeur 600m?

amcclell

This was a classic tool watch that has all the evidence that it was used for its intended purpose. I would not relume or try to restore anything. You could try to find a service dial or sell it and hunt for one that is in better condition. There are plenty of Zenith aficionados who would gladly take it off your hands. Did it come with the ladder bracelet or do you prefer it to the double polished link dive bracelet?

Medinatalzahra

I agree completely. I think the watch is lovely. If it really bothers you, you can still find vintage NOS dials for this model. Otherwise, you can always considering selling it to me. 😉 Below is a wristshot of my A3637 1000m. The dial is in very similar original condition. Thanks for prompting me to get it out for some wrist time today!

preacher

I’m a bit frustrated with it. First of all I’ve never relumed a dial, I want original tritium on my watches, but... the dial of my plongeur looks very dark to me, different from the original conditions because of tritium became dark.
I’m thinking of relume the indices, what do you think?

preacher

Where do you think I can get a nos dial?

Rifish

I definitely wouldn't relume it. It looks great just like it is now. I don't think that it would look any better after relume while everything else stays same and look old. This might sound a bit hard but I would say that it would destroy this watch. Many collectors don't buy a relumed watch and it would decrease the value of the watch if that matters for you.



For example on eBay. Of course there might not be one on sale at the moment but if you wait long enough, it might come on sale. For example I had a rare A3637 diver with a beautiful blue dial. Suprisingly I found a NOS dial on sale on eBay for that watch.

mahamithra

Never relume unless it is the end of the world.
By the way I have an correct bracelet for yours, not the ladder one you have on it.