New Addition

Interstatetime · Jun 20, 2014

Went to the NAWCC National Convention in Milwaukee, WI USA yesterday and today. I saw the owner of this watch which I have been trying to buy for a while. The owner, who says he has owned it for 30+ years, really did not want to sell it in the past and has always asked what I thought was way too much for it. This time I had something he wanted more and we ended up making a trade. It is not perfect and un-plolished but I think it is very nice, original, running great and wearable. Sorry about the pix...taken in my hotel room in window light with the iPhone.

JohnCote

LouS · Jun 20, 2014

Veeery unusual case-dial combo, JC. I've only seen it once or twice before. Very well done, as usual. I must see this in person someday.

I'm just gonna have to dibs this....

ctime3 · Jun 20, 2014

Here, here very cool

Interstatetime · Jun 20, 2014

Thanks Lou,

There was also an unpolished 18k rose gold, original near mint dial, large size, snap back, two register Zenith. The watch was about as nice a watch this old can get except for one small ding in the side of the case. It was an earlier manual wind movement (146 D I believe) than this one. I just couldn't make myself pull the trigger on that one. I never have good luck with snap backs.

The 146 hp feels great on the wrist...feels much different than the big old Heuer I have been wearing. I am not usually much for wearing gold watches but the 146 hp feels right somehow... I think it has it's original crystal and if I continue to wear it I might have to find a new one.

Best,

JC

Interstatetime · Jun 20, 2014

BTW, in the top/dial picture of the 146 hp, the marker at 12:00 appears to be white in the center. That is some weird reflection. The marker actually looks like all of the others with polished gold on both ends and brushed gold in the middle.

JC

Interstatetime · Jun 20, 2014

...and I don't know why I blocked out the last digit of the case number. I know that is not a serial number. The last digit is a 6. I am tired...been looking at watches for two days.

JC

Stewart H · Jun 21, 2014

Interstatetime
I am tired...been looking at watches for two days.

JC

It's a tough life John. Congratulations on the purchase, it just shows that patience pays in this hobby.

MMMD · Jun 21, 2014

Interstatetime
...and I don't know why I blocked out the last digit of the case number. I know that is not a serial number. The last digit is a (redacted). I am tired...been looking at watches for two days.

JC

Sweet piece, congrats. That number is a serial number... it's a unique identifier for that case, not a reference number.

Interstatetime · Jun 21, 2014

Thanks, do you know if the serial number indicates a year of production? My guess is mid '60s.

JC

LouS · Jun 21, 2014

Interstatetime
Thanks, do you know if the serial number indicates a year of production? My guess is mid '60s.

JC

Only approximately. Mid 60s fits with this number. The first El Primeros are 516Dxxx, and the A-series to D-series shift occurs in about 1965 or so.

Interstatetime · Jun 21, 2014

Thanks Lou.

CanberraOmega · Jun 22, 2014

Damn! NFW!!!!

timeismoney · Jun 22, 2014

This is very nice, JC. This is my first time seeing this combo but an unforgettable one. I really dig these 60s Zeniths. I am glad to hear that your patience paid off! I will have to second dibs, Lou's

Here is mine saying hi!

timeismoney · Jun 22, 2014

Interstatetime
Thanks Lou,

There was also an unpolished 18k rose gold, original near mint dial, large size, snap back, two register Zenith. The watch was about as nice a watch this old can get except for one small ding in the side of the case. It was an earlier manual wind movement (146 D I believe) than this one. I just couldn't make myself pull the trigger on that one. I never have good luck with snap backs.

The 146 hp feels great on the wrist...feels much different than the big old Heuer I have been wearing. I am not usually much for wearing gold watches but the 146 hp feels right somehow... I think it has it's original crystal and if I continue to wear it I might have to find a new one.

Best,

JC

You and I are in agreement on these 146s, they are the perfect size for a skinny wrist. I am also not a gold watch wearing person but was really captivated by the gold and navy blue dial combo. These are certainly not your clunky gold watch by any means. In fact, it is what I wore on my wedding

What kind of unfortunate incident happened with your snap back cases?

thanks again for the post, again congratulations on your catch!

Alex

Dablitzer · Jun 22, 2014

Superb John, exudes class!

Interstatetime · Jun 22, 2014

timeismoney
You and I are in agreement on these 146s, they are the perfect size for a skinny wrist. I am also not a gold watch wearing person but was really captivated by the gold and navy blue dial combo. These are certainly not your clunky gold watch by any means. In fact, it is what I wore on my wedding

Alex, I am a large guy with big wrists... 6'5" (not quite 2m) and 222lb (100kg) and I think it still looks great on my wrist. The biggest I go is probably Automatic Heuer Autavias. I probably would not go much smaller than this.

timeismoney
What kind of unfortunate incident happened with your snap back cases?

I simply find that I don't wear a watch if I feel it will be easy to screw up. Gold snap backs don't like my daily routine. I find that when I fall in love with one and end up not wearing it I also have trouble selling it...which must mean that other people have the same issues. That's not to say that there aren't exceptions to the rule. Every rule has exceptions. The Snap-Back pink I saw was close to an exception. I had to talk myself down off the ledge for sure.

JC