Zenith A386 Mark I

It still hasn't gone to the spa yet, but I did Cape Cod polish the crystal!

Before polish:

Untitled by j0hnnycache, on Flickr

After:

Untitled by j0hnnycache, on Flickr

I couldn't hit the sides very well, because I didn't want to polish the metal by mistake.

I have all the NOS parts it needs (crown, tachy-if it can't be cleaned up, crystal). I'm just waiting on a good time to send it to ABC Watchwerks. I'll post pics once it has been to ABC.

Maybe the NOS parts aren't the best... Tachy got a different color for sure..
Movement is correct cal 3019 ?

Many guys in last time prefer to show the face, front & back, of the watch
and exluded automatically the internal engine (cal. 3019)....👎

GIGI

The tachy in the picture is the original one, not the NOS replacement.

Here are the replacement parts, sold to me by M Neuman:



Why would I post the movement? I already know it is genuine!

If the tachy I was sold isn't original, I won't be replacing the original one. I won't know until it is out of the case though...

BTW, this piece was listed in the "Recommended Zenith Watches On Ebay" thread. It needs to have the movement overhauled because the chronograph gets stuck, but otherwise all good. ABC will fix all of that stuff for me.

Some A386 got the cal400 and some other the cal.3019 with some parts changed.
The blistered scale is Service, crown depend diameter, if 6mm is ok.😉

Mine was be only a friendly alert not a rude opinion, sorry


GIGI

Not a problem!

So the NOS tachy is original, but the tachy in the watch right now is a service tachy? How can you tell?

The NOS crown looks like it is 5mm. So it is not the correct crown for this watch?

Thanks!

Actually, under a loupe the crown is very close to 6mm. Without the loupe it was hard to measure it precisely...

Here's the movement:

Tachy bezel in watch now is OK and original from '69
Tachy bezel out the watch is a Service one

Crown look more a 5-5,5mm then a 6mm......
Movement it is the original cal.3019

However clean it as is now, change only the crown

That's my poor 2cents

GIGI

Yeah, it is probably around 5.5 to 5.75.

Hmm, m neuman didn't say it was a "service tachy." That's three out of three parts from him that aren't right for this watch. Crown, not correct. Tachy, not correct. Hands, not correct either. Bum deal...

If you look at the Tachy out of the watch, it appears to have at least a different font size on the words than in the watch. May be due to crystal distortion I don't know. Whatever you decide to do, keep the original parts. Better yet go with an original part over a replacement unless you must have a perfect watch. regards, Bill

I think your comment is un-fair. I told you I did not have a 6mm crown and told you the size of the crown before you bought it (it is 5.5). The tachy was also described as replacement, not a 1969 original. The hands are also replacement this was also told. Aside from the crown these are service parts, the same you would get from the factory, if they have them. I believe I made this clear. I think your lack of knowledge or experience in the terminology is the cause of this mishap. I am happy to take back all parts and make a full refund. Please contact me direct.

I went through my messages and emails.

You never mentioned that the Tachy was a service piece. The only person I see that mentioned it as a replacement was me in the context of calling it a replacement original tachy, which didn't mean it was a service piece, but that I was using it to replace my spotted one. In fact, on the "recommended Zenith watches on Ebay thread" Papaebetu said this piece (the one I won at auction) needed a new tachy scale, and not a service one, to which you responded, that you had one for 150 GBP. I messaged you about that Tachy. It was never explicitly stated to be a service piece on your end.

The hands were mentioned as NOS. The whole time we were going back and forth I was mentioning that it is for an A386 Mark I, and then outright asked if they were for the A386 Mark I. Your next response via email was that "...they are correct and will make the watch look shark and crisp."

I emailed you mentioning that "I am still looking for a Mark I crown." Your response was "I do have some they are 5.50 mm diameter NOS." You didn't mention they weren't original A386 Mark I crowns (or as you suggest, "not 6mm"). You did mention the crown was 5.5mm, so it is unfortunate that I did not know that 6mm is original size, which is why in one e-mail I asked, "Are these the ones originally on the A386 mark I?" Your response, "I believe them to be old stock (new)."

Anyway, I have records of all the emails and messages and will be happy to forward them if you have lost them or thrown them away (I would have to forward pics in the case of forum messages). At best your answers were evasive in a misleading way.

Absolutely, my apologies.