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What's the story with the Zenith Captain line?

  1. arcadelt

    arcadelt Jul 30, 2017

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    Hi all, seeking a bit of knowledge from the Zenith aficionados.

    As the title asks, where does the Zenith Captain line fit into the Zenith picture? I'd be happy to hear about the earlier watches, but I'm most interested in the more contemporary El Primero models with the rectangular pushers. Are they positioned more downmarket or entry level? When were they removed from the catalogue and why? How do they fare in the secondhand market compared to other Zenith models?

    Edit: post is no good without pictures - all stolen.

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    Edited Jul 30, 2017
  2. bokbok

    bokbok Jul 30, 2017

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    Always liked that model [emoji1]
     
  3. Alex_TA

    Alex_TA Jul 30, 2017

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    It seems to me that Zenith gets rid off all watches from Dafour era which cost a bit more to produce.
    They already killed Captain Winsor, Striking 10th, Pilot Big Date.

    I'm pretty pessimistic about the company's future.
     
  4. bokbok

    bokbok Jul 30, 2017

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    Yes they must struggling there not cheap watches to buy [emoji1]
     
  5. LouS Ω 2

    LouS Mrs Nataf's Other Son Staff Member Jul 30, 2017

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    Historically, the Captain was the top of the line time-only or time+date line, positioned the same as Omega's Constellation and Longines' Conquest, and encompassing the same variation as those lines. The modern Captain is just a model name slapped on some watches that are position who-knows-where, victim of Zenith's aimless marketing. If you like it (and I particularly dig that coffee-colored dial with the gold markers), buy it, but don't expect it to do anything in the long term.

    the vintage ones are glorious
    xDSC_0131.jpg
     
    Jkuback, Travelller, Watchmutt and 7 others like this.
  6. arcadelt

    arcadelt Jul 30, 2017

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    Thanks @LouS. I never expect a watch to appreciate, but I have noticed that modern Zenith watches, like Girard-Perregaux, depreciate significantly despite having great lineage and good in-house credentials. I was just interested if I should expect worse from the modern Captain line than their other collections. The entire watch industry is milking their heritage, so I suspected that the Captain line might have been a marketing exercise, which doesn't augur well come sale time.

    Lovely watches by the way. I always enjoy looking at the pieces in your collection.