This Week's Find...

MMMD
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...they seemed to have a lot of them in for service because people thought that they were much more water-resistant than they really were.

This belief might have been instilled by Movado's marketing (the Astronic was called a "Chronodiver" in this brochure from around 1974):

Astronicbrochure_zpsa1ad797a.jpg


Astronicboxandpapers_zpsfdc1b9e5.jpg


There is also "SUPER SUB SEA" on the back, which sounds pretty darned impermeable.

Astronicback_zps2b74aa43.jpg


"SUPER SUB SEA" is followed by "10 ATM" on the back of the earlier Chronodiver seen in the brochure above at right, implying 100m of water resistance.

Chronodivers_faces_zps4d5655b9.jpg


Chronodivers_backs_zpsde7988cd.jpg


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I had always heard that there were only 100 or so of the first series but given the number I have seen for sale (not a lot but some) I thought 100 seemed a bit hard to believe.

Fully agree... there's no way the Astronic was produced in such limited numbers. I would believe 2500, maybe, but never 100. I see many more Astronics for sale than, for example, Zenith A781's (the red-dialed El Primero in the same case and bracelet as the Astronic), with a production number of 1000, according to Rössler. I'll bet 100 was the production number for solid gold Astronics (see brochure page above).
 
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MMMD MMMD
Fully agree... there's no way the Astronic was produced in such limited numbers. I would believe 2500, maybe, but never 100. I see many more Astronics for sale than, for example, Zenith A781's (the red-dialed El Primero in the same case and bracelet as the Astronic), with a production number of 1000, according to Rössler. I'll bet 100 was the production number for solid gold Astronics (see brochure page above).

I am not sure that I would agree that I see that many first gen Astronics for sale that 2,500 is the right number but I certainly believe that they are way more common than they would be if there had only been 100. Who knows. Anyway, here is the back of mine:

Movado-AstroBack.jpg
 
MMMD
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You found a really nice example John. Never polished hard, and a blue bezel with little if any blue-to-gold transformation. Yeah, 2500 would probably be at the upper limit of believability, for 1st and 2nd series combined. Just a non-scientific estimate based on the number that seem to be available at any given time. They show up at least as frequently as the A386 (production = 2500), though I wouldn't put much stock in that comparison because A386 turnover is undoubtedly much, much lower.
 
LouS
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MMMD MMMD
You found a really nice example John. Never polished hard, and a blue bezel with little if any blue-to-gold transformation. Yeah, 2500 would probably be at the upper limit of believability, for 1st and 2nd series combined. Just a non-scientific estimate based on the number that seem to be available at any given time. They show up at least as frequently as the A386 (production = 2500), though I wouldn't put much stock in that comparison because A386 turnover is undoubtedly much, much lower.

The number 3500 is bandied about for the A 386 on the italian fora - I'm not sure on what evidence, but several people who are usually in the know seem quite convinced of this. As for turnover, I don't know exactly how to read that. We, the "end collectors," would be more likely to think that the circulation would be lower, because we keep our stuff in general, but it could be that a watch model actually is likelier to appear on the market more frequently after a bump in price, as the A 386 had last year. It seems to me that there have been more A 386s changing hands in the past 3-4 months than in the past 2-3 years.
 
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I agree that all of the early ELPs have gained in reputation and collector interest lately. While I will admit that this makes the watches more expensive to collect it also adds value to collections. I generally love it when the price of watches goes up.
 
U
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LouS LouS
We, the "end collectors," would be more likely to think that the circulation would be lower, because we keep our stuff in general,

Speak for, and about, yourself! First, I don't want to be called an "end", nor anything else that can be associated with "rear". Second, some of us like flipping. You hoarders don't share! :p :p :p
 
cicindela
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Speak for, and about, yourself! First, I don't want to be called an "end", nor anything else that can be associated with "rear". Second, some of us like flipping. You hoarders don't share! :p :p :p
We share, you just have to be respectful and court us.:p
 
U
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cicindela cicindela
We share, you just have to be respectful and court us.:p

I'll convert you yet! :D Kyle already volunteered to help. (notice how often Kyle gets volunteered?)
 
cicindela
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I'll convert you yet! :D Kyle already volunteered to help. (notice how often Kyle gets volunteered?)
If he really wanted to help, he would set a good example and flip me his RG black dial square waffle :p
 
U
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cicindela cicindela
If he really wanted to help, he would set a good example and flip me his RG black dial square waffle :p

Um, we're thinking of getting the flow of watches to go the opposite way. ;)
 
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