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watchmann44232
·Hello All,
I've assumed that AF/P (Alta frequenza & precisione) on Zenith dials is similar to 28800 which Zenith used to indicate movement, or rather it's vph. And thus AF/P would indicate Zenith Cal. 405 (day,date) or 408 (date) 36000vph hi-beat movement which Zenith sourced from Movado, and potentially a more expensive version of the watch model.
I recently had a conversation with an another watch enthusiast where his thinking was that AF/P is it's own model or sub brand. And certainly when you google for 'Zenith AF/P', very few Defy AF/P's or Respirator AF/P's or Captain AF/P's come up. And thankfully no Surf AF/P's. 😅 Indeed, there are several posts on OF that use AF/P in a 'model-like' fashion.
I wanted to put this out here for people with more knowledge in this matter to weigh in. Is AF/P a model variant, or it's own model? Or can both be true at the same time?
Below is an image of a pair of (in my opinion) Defy TV AF/P (A792) and Spaceman AF/P (A791) watches that got this conversation started. I'll follow with links to forum posts and such where AF/P's have been mentioned to collect various 'sightings' etc. in one thread.
Image from [1] that is occasionally seen on forums showing Defy Spaceman and Defy TV next to their AF/P cousins (that are listed for a slightly higher price tag). I suspect having seen this image at some point set my mind to think that AF/P is a variant of the 'base' model.
Local library has a copy of Rössler's Zenith book and although I can't say for certain, I think AF/P is only mentioned on two pages in the context of 'Herrenarmbanduhr Modell Respirator AF/P' [German edition, pages 148-149, ISBN 3871881031]. Books caliber list also lists 405 and 408 movements, which also indicates cal 405 and 408 were manufactured only between 1969-1971. If this is correct, then I would assume that all AF/P Zenith watches would be from around this period, plus maybe a year or two. This relative short period would appear to somewhat limit models that were produced and available with cal. 405 or 408.
And while at it - can someone comment on [ease of] serviceability of and availability of spares for the Cal 405 and 408?
Then Links to Zenith AF/P posts on ΩF:
WUS has many threads/posts on AF/Ps as well and Google Images returns a healthy list of hits for 'Zenith AF/P'.
-----
This was a fun little rabbit hole to dig into... 😀
I am proposing that there will be a rather finite number of different kinds of Zenith AF/P watches and it would be fun to collect them in one place. I'll start and post (better) photos of the two I've got shortly.
I've assumed that AF/P (Alta frequenza & precisione) on Zenith dials is similar to 28800 which Zenith used to indicate movement, or rather it's vph. And thus AF/P would indicate Zenith Cal. 405 (day,date) or 408 (date) 36000vph hi-beat movement which Zenith sourced from Movado, and potentially a more expensive version of the watch model.
I recently had a conversation with an another watch enthusiast where his thinking was that AF/P is it's own model or sub brand. And certainly when you google for 'Zenith AF/P', very few Defy AF/P's or Respirator AF/P's or Captain AF/P's come up. And thankfully no Surf AF/P's. 😅 Indeed, there are several posts on OF that use AF/P in a 'model-like' fashion.
I wanted to put this out here for people with more knowledge in this matter to weigh in. Is AF/P a model variant, or it's own model? Or can both be true at the same time?
Below is an image of a pair of (in my opinion) Defy TV AF/P (A792) and Spaceman AF/P (A791) watches that got this conversation started. I'll follow with links to forum posts and such where AF/P's have been mentioned to collect various 'sightings' etc. in one thread.
Image from [1] that is occasionally seen on forums showing Defy Spaceman and Defy TV next to their AF/P cousins (that are listed for a slightly higher price tag). I suspect having seen this image at some point set my mind to think that AF/P is a variant of the 'base' model.
Local library has a copy of Rössler's Zenith book and although I can't say for certain, I think AF/P is only mentioned on two pages in the context of 'Herrenarmbanduhr Modell Respirator AF/P' [German edition, pages 148-149, ISBN 3871881031]. Books caliber list also lists 405 and 408 movements, which also indicates cal 405 and 408 were manufactured only between 1969-1971. If this is correct, then I would assume that all AF/P Zenith watches would be from around this period, plus maybe a year or two. This relative short period would appear to somewhat limit models that were produced and available with cal. 405 or 408.
And while at it - can someone comment on [ease of] serviceability of and availability of spares for the Cal 405 and 408?
Then Links to Zenith AF/P posts on ΩF:
- 'Star' Zenith AF/P - golden: https://omegaforums.net/threads/please-post-your-vintage-zenith.11291/page-67#post-1977025
- AF/P TV: https://omegaforums.net/threads/please-post-your-vintage-zenith.11291/page-65#post-1938646
- 'Star' Zenith AFP - white dial: https://omegaforums.net/threads/arr...y-recently-watches.8930/page-651#post-1262665
- Respirator AF/P, white dial: https://omegaforums.net/threads/please-post-your-vintage-zenith.11291/page-10#post-497851
- Spaceman AF/P: https://omegaforums.net/threads/the-nos-thread.7352/page-3#post-87820
- Spaceman, TV: https://omegaforums.net/threads/dating-a-zenith.20052/#post-217517 (has Zenith catalog image allegedly from 1970 showing Defy and AF/P versions of Spaceman and TV; interestingly here the references are listed as AH 791 and AH 792 (TV))
- TV, Spaceman AF/P: https://omegaforums.net/threads/please-post-your-vintage-zenith.11291/page-67#post-1977025 (GF end pieces thread)
- 'Star' Zenith AF/P - white black dial: https://omegaforums.net/threads/have-you-ever-seen-a-zenith-ap-f-cal-405.27485/
- TV Respirator, blue/white dial: https://omegaforums.net/threads/a-new-zenith-joins-the-rank-the-blue-dialed-respirator-af-p.124911/
- TV Respirator, black/white dial: https://omegaforums.net/threads/after-the-blue-af-p-the-black-af-p-comes-to-my-stable.131873/ (similar to a watch shown in Rössler)
- TV AF/P: https://omegaforums.net/threads/my-last-zenith-af-p.138134/
WUS has many threads/posts on AF/Ps as well and Google Images returns a healthy list of hits for 'Zenith AF/P'.
-----
This was a fun little rabbit hole to dig into... 😀
I am proposing that there will be a rather finite number of different kinds of Zenith AF/P watches and it would be fun to collect them in one place. I'll start and post (better) photos of the two I've got shortly.
Edited:
