Few weeks ago I received this Zenith, bought from its first owner.

Movement is an Excelsior Park 4 named 143-6 by Zenith and produced between 1945 and 1956, yet year of mine is unknown so far as there is no serial on movement.

Only two numbers are outside & inside the caseback but can't find a production year with it as it should be a 4XXXXXX digit to match the period...

I also wonder about originality of crown... I know Zenith also made watches without signed crown but can't tell for this model.
However crown is well proportionate and its steel shade is matching perfectly with case's steel.

Next move will be to find a nice tan/honey leather and a correct period "stellina" buckle, yet hard to find for decent price.

Any input concerning year of production and crown or whatsoever you may taught me will be greetly appreciated.

Jeremie

 

Hi @Finrod Felagund , nice chronograph you got. I just recently purchased a Zenith chronograph equipped with the same movement (143-6 / Ex-Park 4)- and it presents similar characteristics:
1/ number engraved inside and outside caseback;
2/ no apparent serial number on the movement.

For the price of 120 swiss francs I got from Zenith a PDF extract of archive via email indicating the date the chronograph was ordered from Excelsior Park. The turn around time was quick, about two weeks, friendly and professional. They were able to identify a batch to which the movement belonged, but could not indicate the country to which the chronograph was delivered (or the date of delivery).

As far as movement serial, my watchmaker who's working on another Ex- Park 4 movement for another client showed me a serial number on the dial side of the movement, not visible when you just open the case. So one wonders whether it's the same also for the Zenith 143-6.

 

Yup, that's life.

 

Love that extra touch to the movement finishing!!!

 

Thanks guys for those precious ,info!
That takes me out of the impasse with this watch.

@Syrte : I'm happy to learn that Zenith can provide movement informations without the serial. I wasn't willing to do it as I thought teh watch did not get enough info to start with... I definitely will ask for it then!

@LouS : It is an interesting theory you raised here about the dial! Hopefully the extract will tell us more about it!

Concerning the double case number it appears to be quite common on this particular model... Not sure why but the only guess I could make would be to compensate for the lake of serial on movement. In this case it shall be common on all Zenith with Ex Park inside...

The more I study this watch, the more I get questions about it!! Oddly I love this historical challenge!!

 

Well, as I understand there's no guarantee they will find info on yours. But at least you know it's possible in certain instances just based on the case numbers. I was prepared to take the gamble and am glad I didn't come empty handed even if I hoped for more.

 

I did some certificate of authenticity with Zenith previously and they proove that their heritage department is efficient and that their resources are well kept.

As you stated before they do not indicate country it was delivered to while Omega provides this information.
On the other hand they often provide usefull informations as if the watch left factory with band or bracelet...

Wait & see