All- It looks like Zenith is finally fully embracing vintage through its Icons program. See the attached. Appreciate any info anyone else has to share... https://www.zenith-watches.com/en_au/brand/zenith-icons-epilogue https://timeandtidewatches.com/the-zenith-icons-collection-is-a-thrilling-prospect-for-vintage-fans/ The ZENITH ICONS collection gives some the manufacture’s most emblematic and rare vintage watches from the 1960s and 1970s a second life. The Zenith Manufacture sources, restores and authenticates these rare and historical timepieces, repsecting its original traits and condition and offering buyers peace of mind with complete tracability.
Isn't that the glass half empty viewpoint? I like the idea of what they are doing. Of course, it remains to be seen what the results will actually be.
All of them are in China right now and you have to be at the store to purchase and as always crazy prices.
Why do you like it? Based on what I can see, it's just another place to buy mediocre examples at exorbitant prices. IIRC, Omega had a deal with a seller in London to sell "officially certified" vintage watches. Maybe they still do.The prices were also crazy, but the watches were really nice. If Zenith did something like that it would be great, and I think people would be happy to have a place to go to buy extraordinary examples, even at high prices.
This is very sad. The examples shown so far have been "cleaned up" with service parts and stripped of all personality. And for that you can pay a massive premium (cuz it's "certfied" by Zenith?). I inquired about the a386 out of curiosity and they are asking for 30,000 CHF!!! There aren't many of these out there and now Zenith itself has gotten into the refurbish beyond all recognition game. I just hope the pieces they are getting are super trashed or something...
I like the idea of salvaging interesting vintage watches in poor condition. Of course, the devil is in the details. But the idea I got from the videos is that Zenith will use parts from its extensive historical inventory and make parts if necessary. If they replace radium or tritium dials or hands with luminova, then I am not keen on that. But if the restoration is very “sympathetic”, then I think it is good to preserve these vintage watches that otherwise would be lost. Having said that, I have not seen any of the restored watches and do not know anything about the program other than from watching the three videos.
Skip the propaganda movies and scroll down to look at the actual watches. They're right there. The parts and restoration were always available, the difference is that now they are selling these watches themselves in their boutiques.