very old zenith wristwatch-need your opinion

goodcall · Mar 6, 2014

recently bought this watch as a "for parts" item with minute and second hands unattached to the movement .
it took about 3min. to put them back in place than wound the watch up and it's been running for last 36h with excellent accuracy.
my questions are mostly
about the movement-what caliber is it?Looks very similar to 16'''(17 jewels) but is only 25mm in diameter.
total size of the watch is about 35mm(without the crown).
Serial#2070937 dates this watch( movement) to 1916-17-did Zenith make any wristwatches back then?

LouS · Mar 6, 2014

The caliber looks like one of the scalable Zenith NVSI movements. At 25mm, that would make it the 11 ligne version manufactured in 102000 exemplars from 1904 to 1926. In savonette configuration, that would make it a reference 11-2.

Given the obvious redial, it looks like it was adapted to the wristwatch role. Zenith may or may not have made wristwatches back then, but they wouldn't have been in a case like that.

goodcall · Mar 13, 2014

Thanks for the information and it is much appreciated.
about the dial-yeah it dosen't look too good at all.
thanks again
goodcall

gatorcpa · Mar 13, 2014

Here are pictures of the Zenith 11 ligne NVSI and 10.5 ligne NSI movements:

The major difference between the two is the location of the two screws between the balance and the winding wheels. On the 11 ligne, the screws are closer together than on the 10.5 ligne.

based on the photos, I think yours is the 11 ligne NVSI movement.
gatorcpa