Dear OF,

I came across a vintage Zenith tank style watch with a Favre Leuba signed dial. I understand Favre Leuba used to be a distributor of zenith watches in India.

I’m just wondering on the legitimacy of this watch. It’s a two tone steel and gold plated case. Unfortunately, the seller do not have a picture of the movement.

 

Some information here:
https://omegaforums.net/threads/whats-the-story-on-the-zenith-favre-leuba-connection.5113/

I'd say the dial has the right logotype:



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Thanks for your reply. Yep I read that thread already. Did some research myself before posting. However, I can’t find similar looking references online.

Purely from the prints and consistency, it looks ok.

 

From the Rossler book it describes a collaboration between the 2 companies from about 1901 through the 60s. What’s the asking price on it?

 

450 SGD

 

The seller can only confirm that the movement is zenith signed but does not know the calibre. He has ever asked a watch maker to open the watch before but did not take a photo then.

 

For that price I would pass unless you want it to add to a Zenith collection for historical purposes.

 

450 sgd is about 334 usd. It is not valuable ?

 

When you say valuable I assume you mean a lot more than the asking price and I would say no to that at least to me. I would rather have another Zenith example for the same money. There’s lots of inexpensive Zenith’s out there.

 

I am trying to think of any watch I've ever seen that had a gold capped mid case and steel bezel/front.

There are plenty the other way around; striped in two colours of gold, yup; but, I don't think I've ever seen one like this.

The crystal sits very proud too. I suspect the original was a square dome which you just can't find easily today. I do "have a guy" who will make them to order but it's never cheap.

The midcase lacks the sort of definition I would expect on a deco watch and the hands look too clumsy. There's also the pitting on the steel that detracts from the overall look.

I'd say wait for a better one ... I think there's too much been changed on this and if you did buy it then you'd never be truly happy with it. (And that advice is from someone who has bought some really beat up examples of 30's tanks just to have one of every iteration),

 

Thanks for the advice guys! And yep, I have given it a miss.