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Updated values for zenith a384/385/386/3817/3818

jhross98
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wristpirate sailor
The estimated production of the A386 is 4500. I believe Rossler was the source for the 2500 number, and in recent years he has updated it to 4500.

What I find interesting is the estimated production of the A3817 and A3818 is 1000 each. Though, they are rarely seen compared to the A386. This leads me to believe that either they made less of the A3817/A3818 or more of the A386 than the estimated numbers suggest.

this makes sense. anecdotally. . .look around the market. great a386s come up regularly . . .a3818 almost never

will be very interesting to see if phillip's a386 re-prices the market for pristine examples. my bet is it will . ..
 
Mlafra
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I noticed that too. It is otherwise a great great specimen and very complete set indeed. At least it has the nato star on the crown (even though in its smaller version as oppose to the correct bigger version), as oppose to the later crown with the inverted start engraved.

I honestly believe it will go for crazy money, given conditions and especially given the auction house where it will be sold. We will soon see!
 
Frederic_gva
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Mlafra Mlafra
I noticed that too. It is otherwise a great great specimen and very complete set indeed. At least it has the nato star on the crown (even though in its smaller version as oppose to the correct bigger version), as oppose to the later crown with the inverted start engraved.

I honestly believe it will go for crazy money, given conditions and especially given the auction house where it will be sold. We will soon see!

Agree with you regarding the crown, it remains better than the mid 70s version....

i'll follow the sale closely.... stay in touch....
 
Frederic_gva
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Looks to be a mk2. Decent watch, original parts except the crown. Case looks polished but still acceptable.

Chrono hand (the red one) looks newer.

I would say it remains pretty good and price is fair.
 
wristpirate
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Case slightly polished, serial number polished away on caseback, numerals flaking on tachymetre, wrong hand on seconds subdial, wrong crown, hard to tell how clean the dial is or if its just on the crystal.

I'd say that's a reasonable price for both sides.
 
Mlafra
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wow, good spot!
I would say that price looks reasonable for the conditions of the watch and also for the fact that it got sold on ebay (there is almost always a bit of a discount compared to the same item being sold somewhere else for the added risk).
Also not too bad for the 1k USD GF bracelet, I would guess that these days and WITH ZJ end links they probably go for AT LEAST that...probably a bit more
 
Artomatique
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Thank you guys for all that info.
Could anyone refer me to a good trustworthy watchmaker one you preferably have used I have a A386 I that needs some work on the setting or cannon pinion.
I am located in SoCal.
Thank you in advance
J.B
 
Mlafra
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Well, I would say you can still probably buy them for around 20k for a while, depending on conditions even much less.
The one sold at Phillips was in extremely good conditions and, most importantly in today's (and probably even more so in the future's) market, it was full set, with box and papers. It does make a big difference. Then, whether the paperwork is 100% legit...that is a different story.
But for pristine examples the ship has sailed and IMHO they will continue to climb.
Just to give you an example: why it should be worth less than the similarly full set Monaco (Lot 1 in the same auction), which is a much more produced (and IMHO also much uglier) watch? Only time will tell!
 
Frederic_gva
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Totally agree with you. However, Heuer remains Heuer, Rolex remains Rolex and Zenith remains Zenith.
Heuer, Omega and Rolex had famous "ambassadors" that boosted their market value (J. Rindt, Paul Newman, S. Mc Queen, N. Armstrong, B. Aldrin...). Sadly Zenith had none of those famous people in the 60-70s (Louis Blériot had a Zenith on the wrist when crossing the Channel but this was back in 1909...) and Zenith remained "in the dark" for decades.
This, however seems to change now...
 
jhross98
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Mlafra Mlafra
Well, I would say you can still probably buy them for around 20k for a while, depending on conditions even much less.
The one sold at Phillips was in extremely good conditions and, most importantly in today's (and probably even more so in the future's) market, it was full set, with box and papers. It does make a big difference. Then, whether the paperwork is 100% legit...that is a different story.
But for pristine examples the ship has sailed and IMHO they will continue to climb.
Just to give you an example: why it should be worth less than the similarly full set Monaco (Lot 1 in the same auction), which is a much more produced (and IMHO also much uglier) watch? Only time will tell!

obviously time will tell. . and phillips was a white hot room with a lot of enthusiasm. but that a386 had the wrong crown and a friend that saw the watch thought it had been polished. ..not sure it was the a++++ example it was purported to be although dial was perfect
 
Mlafra
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Frederic_gva Frederic_gva
Totally agree with you. However, Heuer remains Heuer, Rolex remains Rolex and Zenith remains Zenith.
Heuer, Omega and Rolex had famous "ambassadors" that boosted their market value (J. Rindt, Paul Newman, S. Mc Queen, N. Armstrong, B. Aldrin...). Sadly Zenith had none of those famous people in the 60-70s (Louis Blériot had a Zenith on the wrist when crossing the Channel but this was back in 1909...) and Zenith remained "in the dark" for decades.
This, however seems to change now...

Sad but true about the lack of "ambassadors" Zenith had.... this is in fact the single most irritating thing for me about watch collecting in general these days: hype and marketing and famous testimonials determine value more than historical horological importance, technical aspects/complication and finishing of the movement but also rarity and even looks (I am sure I am not the only one thinking that a Rolex Daytona with PN dial looks a 1000 times worse than a standard Rolex Daytona - which is overvalued in itself anyway by the way). I feel that 5/10y ago these aspect was probably still present but not so pronounced....
 
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