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ZENITH A385 ?

  1. BGBG

    BGBG Aug 14, 2013

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    On ebay Germany item 290960418142 is an a385, nice case, hands and dial with a very early el primero movement and a rectangular shaped box around the phc on the movement.
    The case back is somewhat of an unusual design with 14 sides not common for an a385, and has a very early serial number 517D4XX . I have never seen a case back like this on the a385 before, it looks more like a case back that would be on a manual wind 146 chronograph case from the late sixties, or could it be possible that this is a very early a385 ?
     
  2. LouS Ω 2

    LouS Mrs Nataf's Other Son Staff Member Aug 14, 2013

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    This is from the first production run of this model. I have 4 more A 385s and an A 384 from the same series in the database. No Spillman number on the inside caseback. The first time I ran into one of these I thought it was a put together, but I believe they are legit now.
     
  3. BGBG

    BGBG Aug 15, 2013

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    That's good to know, does this mean with a case number as low as 517D4XX that the a384 and a385 were produced before the a386 range .
     
  4. Gavin

    Gavin It's the quiet ones you have to 'watch' out for. Aug 24, 2013

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    Wow. Sold for $4436!
     
  5. LouS Ω 2

    LouS Mrs Nataf's Other Son Staff Member Aug 24, 2013

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    I don't think so. Information from brochures shows that the A 384-5-6 were marketed to the public simultaneously. I think the difference has to do with these cases being made in batches, and being assigned case numbers accordingly. Anyway, the difference between 517 and 538 (the first run of A 396s) is not that great in comparison with that between production batches.


    That beats the old record for A 385s by a country mile. It's a nice dial, but the case has had a polish - wouldn't have stretched that far myself...