Hi everyone

A hunt found a end

First pictures





I hunted this ref. around 4 years until i found a nice one.

Here something different to this ref as an input/other point of view.

In the big Manfred Rössler Zenith book, he write about two productions of the ref 01.0042.400:

1988 - 375 pieces
1989 - 650 pieces
Total 1025 pieces




In the small Manfred Rössler book (only EP), he wrote the followed:

01.0042.400 (1) - 1988 - 375 pieces
01.0042.400 (2) - 1989 - 680 pieces
Total 1055 pieces



So at the end what is true?

I have a different guess.....

I think there are really two batches of this ref. but you can't separate them so strict in dial/hand versions.
My guess is that the trigger is the case or better said the caseback.

I think Zenith ordered 750 (375 / 375) cases for the first De Luca in 1988 with the small logo on the caseback.

In 1989 they got other 1000 (and a few) with the new caseback (big logo).
All other references after the 01.0040.400 had the big logo.


This is only my guess or another opinion to this ref.

What do you think?
Feel free to show your De Luca

Adri

 

damn..I think I want one now..

 

Well done, it's beautiful! Not sure I even want to know what it set you back.

 

Hi @Adri - fantastic looking find - please post a picture next to it's predecessor - your A277 (which is is the same nice condition as this great piece). Best regards from a fellow Swiss Zenith afficionado.

 

De Lucas are incredible watches, especially the first series, especially IMHO with a black dial.
I have one myself and I am super happy with it.
As for the production dates and numbers, I am of the opinion that the first 2 references were produced on both 1988 and 1989.
I actually did not know about the small logo/big logo variations, your theory is surely very interesting.
I also heard, that some have white subdials as oppose to silvery ones, it would be interesting to see if the white vs silver subdials has any correlation to the small vs big logo on the caseback.

 

It's a beauty congratulations, I'll dig mine out and take some pictures.

 

Thank you
I will as soon i have the new strap

I think @LouS wrote a review few years ago about the A277 and the De Luca but i can't remember it was here or in another forum.

 

I think the price is the same as for a good rainbow flyback or any other nice EP chronograph from this time.
Would be interesting to know what was the normal sales price in 1988.

 

If I remember correctly (which might well not be the case!) I think I saw once an original sale invoice for a De Luca that said 2 million Italian Liras, or about 1k EUR. That being said in those years in Italy inflation was very high so the equivalent of 1k EUR then is much more than now, but not only that, 1k EUR in 1988 would be different to 1k EUR in 1995 for example.
But take this with a pinch of salt as I am not really 100% sure I remember correctly

 

As per the price now, 1st series are (deservely so IMHO) the most expensive, especially with black dial, but for the moment not hugely more than later series. And in general I feel they are still pretty undervalued for how beautiful and relatively rare they are.

 

This has the best dial IMHO

 

Here's mine. Sold it some time ago

 

I would say the same and I would not be surprised if the demand increases sharply for the next few years.

As requested from @Bienne2998 a few pictures

Both 40mm



A277 is a little bit thicker



Quality of the case back is not so good. It's a minus point for the De Luca.



The lugs of the De Luca looks always as polished but you must have a good eye to see if it's polished or not.

MK1 = soft finish
A277 = sharp finish





one more

A277 has bigger eyes



and a group shot



I hope you like it as much as i do.

HAGWE

Adri

 

Fantastic! Thanx @Adri for the eye candy just before the weekend. It's hot in Switzerland Today - but these pictures are hotter.

 

Congrats! impressive find.

 

Great watch. I had the 043-400. I did eventually sell it, but it was me, not it.

 

Heres mine....



It has always intrigued me why mine has slightly longer sub hands?!,...but I notice yours had the longer subs too.

I also see many mk 1's (both black and white dial) with a marked crown although I have heard the original mk 1 crowns were unmarked. I have seen so many marked crown that they can't all be service replacements? Perhaps this can be explained by a different year or later production run?

 

congrats! a fantastic group of Zeniths there

 

Good input never noticed the longer and shorter sub dial hands.
My thought to the branded crowns is that watchmaker/jewelers over the years have replaced the unbranded crown because they thought they were wrong.

 

Unmarked vs marked crowns. Possibly. I thought that too, but the average watch maker wouldn't have zenith crowns. If the watches were sent to zenith for service then I think the crown would have been left unmarked.

I am thinking of doing a bit of research into the large and small case back marking to see what variations that throws up?

To help, if anyone has a mk 1 could they post the crown type and case back symbol size please?