Hi guys,

I have been looking at this A386 for quite a while. It is slightly out my budget so I have not pulled the trigger.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=72

The pricing seems to be quite decent especially after the price drop. But for some reason, no one is picking it up.

Can i check if I am missing something besides the non-correct sub-register hands and service crown?


Cheers,
Sam

 

As a non-expert, I didn't look at originality issues, but immediately noticed serious condition concerns, like the weird black lume on the h/m hands and the badly overpolished case. And perhaps it is the lighting, but the colors of the subdials seem very dark and not attractive. Especially the blue. I guess at some price it will become appealing. Also, a quick search did not find any feedback at all for the seller, and he doesn't provide any.

 

As @Dan S has said the lume is very dark, with current fashion trends the market wants yellow lume. The blue subdial looks dark navy, the iconic part of this dial is the tri-colour subdials which have a nice contrast, looking too dark will put people off. The case has been polished. Service crown. The added clasp is cool but sort of distracts from the head and is not period correct. The seller has a low post count too.

With high value vintage pieces the attraction of the whole package is what drives collectors, the photos of this one let it down. It’s screaming out for some outdoor sunshine photos and not the sterile light box.

 

Agree that the polishing may be not be done well. However, in terms of the dial colour, i think it is alright (especially when you reference the Hodinkee post). The hands are dark but I believe that is the characteristic of most of the A386?

Haha. I am trying very hard to convince myself that i should not spend that kind of money but i have a soft spot for A386 and A385.

 

At some price it will be appealing to someone. Of course, you can get a nice example of an A385 for less than the current asking price, if that's an option for you.

 

sucks for the seller which had to pay the Hodinkee tax

 

I see this more and more. Somebody selling a watch (on eBay or this forum), and trying to get the same price they paid to a glamour dealer. They will even post links to the previous sales photos, as if anyone cares. It's called "learning the hard way".

 

I sent the seller some questions about that watch on RF twice, and he was completely non-responsive. Something is up there.....

 

Really unattractive example IMO. You'd be far far better buying an A+ a385. Very hard to sell this watch... I laughed at the initial hodinkee listing

 

I think the seller knows its faults. Would not send or post any additional photos, including of the case and lugs....

 

A bit of photographic skills goes a long way, but only if you have an attractive subject to photograph.

 

Agree with what others have said here - the images make the watch look quite dark (darker than when on H). More polished than many will want, and later crown.
However, I also believe it is also being dragged down by the wear to the movement. Not shown on RF, but shown on H (I would want to see another movement image with rotor in different position):

 

I cant believe that the Hodinkee watch and the watch in the RF listing are the same?! If they are the seller is a terrible, terrible photographer.

I would be raging if I had purchased from Hodinkee and the watch on RF turned up!

 

Nothing beats a good photographer - worth their weight in gold!

 

I'll start by just saying that I picked this piece up.

A few things I'll mention in the leadup... I had been following the listing from its start. The communication with the seller had been initially a little sparse but he had other high-end sales and I didn't rule out based on low post counts...turns out he was a decent guy, I just don't think he was into protracted back and forths with tire-kickers and I think for him this was a quite minor piece in his collection...but hopefully I'm establishing I was in no hurry here (was following for more than 6 months) and was only going to proceed when I felt comfortable. Next thing, I did as much homework on A386's and this piece as was possible. The piece is listed on the Alpha Hands reference page, so I knew the ownership trail from when it was listed on Hodinkee. In the last month I was also aware of this thread, so I was cognizant of some of the opinions on the condition. The thing with A386's is, the likelihood that I was going to pick up an unpolished example given what I am looking for and willing to spend...well, it wasn't going to happen now or any time in the near future. I don't have a problem with the case polishing and the subdial coloring looks really good...that's not an issue either. The service crown and lume color is probably the most overt thing that is keeping this piece from the next strata up, price wise. But...I buy my watches to wear and a bit like an old car I recently picked up, I'm not really bothered at all by them being time-worn.

All of this is really to say, I was looking for an A386 to wear and waiting for an example at a price point where that could become a reality. So I'm proud to say I'm very happy with this piece and the price I ended up paying (which I'll only say was lower than the most recent reduced listing). Like all of my watches, I take good care of them so that I can continue to wear them unimpeded for years to come. This A386 is working just fine with a couple minor quirks. The next decision I'm weighing is whether I have LA Watch Works do the mechanics or whether I go the full Zenith-service route. I'm not in any hurry to make that decision, but it is the reason I'm outing myself here. Obviously going the Zenith route is a bit of a chore...I'd probably wait for a trip back east to visit the LVMH service center myself, put in for the extract and certification while I'm doing the service... or perhaps that's not worth it. Like I said, it's for wearing but I know these vintage El Primero's can be finicky service jobs and going the Zenith route would take the guess work out of that.

Long story short. I'm the happy owner of this piece. I do appreciate the opinions and honest takes this forum and thread provided.

 

Pictures or it didn’t happen! Since the OP didn’t post photos I have no idea what you bought, besides a poorly photographed classic. Help me out

 

Here are the originals

 

Congrats. As an FYI, I am currently having an A385 serviced by LA Watch Works. I will let you know how it goes after I get it back. They are supposed to know Zenith well. I would be wary of sending a vintage back to Zenith for normal serving, unless you are specifically sending it to their vintage/restoration group - which doesn’t really look warranted with this piece. Just my 2 cents.

M

 

I had an A385 serviced and refinished by the folks at LAWW when they were at their previous company and I can give you my experiences by PM if you're interested.

 

too lazy to post pictures in the sales thread...