Autosport - Very Pleasant Surprise

Posts
6,713
Likes
18,550
Yesterday I received a watch that has been lost in the mail for nearly a month and a half. It was a humble Zenith AutoSport that I bought because I hadn't ever seen that particular dial before, either on the 'net or in the Zenith literature, and despite the case having been polished smooth of its sunburst texture. I didn't have tremendous hopes for it - more a curiosity than anything else.

The AutoSports were an early 70s C-cased version of the Sporto, Zenith's everyman's activity watch. They had automatic versions of Zenith's workhorse movements, the 25x2 PC series. Some of them had amusing target dials.

DSC_0257c.jpg


The one in question had an anthracite dial.

80b471e1-3296-4c95-9311-b85a755e6d41_zpsced9c1a1.jpg


The finish was much shinier than in the seller's pics, and In the manner of shiny dark dials, it did interesting things in the light

9c867bd0-bc25-4c6a-a05b-1e943f63d52b_zps8f9c70c2.jpg


But what really raised a grin was the dial texture, something that really did not grab the eye in the seller's pics. I decided it was worth getting the macro lens out.

0b305263-d5a5-4757-a3ff-328a40e7fdbb_zpsfb1a5d21.jpg


daf40a45-9f1f-494e-9c7f-2778c8cc0abf_zpsd83d54ca.jpg


Really, a much finer thing than I expected - maybe one of the finest Zenith dials of the era.

Here with a stablemate
06a511c5-dd01-4120-a3ca-089b7888a193_zpsce4e6312.jpg
 
Posts
4,642
Likes
31,197
Not that he'll ever part with it, but.. for the little that it's worth... dibs!
 
Posts
4,642
Likes
31,197
Man, guess I picked the wrong day to bust out this thing:

ZenithAutoSportGreen_zps68c68a62.jpg


...though I did enjoy my three minutes of AutoSport dominance. ;)
 
Posts
6,713
Likes
18,550
:thumbsup: oh baby! ::love:: plain caseback?

Plain Jane. Nothing special about the movement either. The case is aggressively overpolished - it should have a brushed radial finish.

Man, guess I picked the wrong day to bust out this thing:

ZenithAutoSportGreen_zps68c68a62.jpg


...though I did enjoy my three minutes of AutoSport dominance. ;)

Sorry! Hard to show restraint though, as I've been more than six weeks waiting for this thing. I think everyone at the US Customs office must have worn it for a day before they boxed it back up and sent it on.
 
Posts
25,981
Likes
27,609
Lou - Steve can restore the radial brushed finish. That's a killer dial. Put that on the list of watches I want to see the next time we both attend a GTG.