UPDATED Zenith "Yugoslav" chronograph - 143-6 EP caliber

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There is also an additional piece of information they sent which is surprising.

That the 2000 were oxidized black dials,
"and fitted silvered Arabic numerals and skeleton hands (destined to be filled with radium, originally)"

The black dials(like Syrte's) have white inked numerals and white painted hand sets... Not applied markers. Maybe there was some liberties taken once the watches shipped out to EP?
 
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Zenith did confirm to me that they too had found reports of white dials issued to officers, but that was only through testimony from the owners of the watches, they have no paper trail for it. This is in addition to all that Syrte has reported above about the batch of 2000.
That is quite interesting because when I initially contacted them, and had email exchanges with them, they were quite willing to help but had no clue about these watches to begin with nor had they heard about a potential militaty link.
 
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Hi Syrte,

my former watch (pics above) has been bought in Budapest ca. 2004.

rgds - h.u.
 
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WOW what a truly beautiful vintage watch as others have said the untouched honesty of this piece is incredible and that patina say no more... thanks for sharing a great story too...
 
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Really interesting follow up post and I'm going to check the case number of my own example later on.

How much did the Zenith extract cost and how long did it take to arrive?
 
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Thanks @Omega1, and @cristos71.

Glad to give back to the community !
It didn't take too long to get the extract, something like 2/3 weeks IIRC. Price 120 CHF for email version, 150CHF for paper version.

Also thanks @minutenrohr, that's an interesting piece of info.
Edited:
 
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That is quite interesting because when I initially contacted them, and had email exchanges with them, they were quite willing to help but had no clue about these watches to begin with nor had they heard about a potential militaty link.

I can only hope we find out more from an original owner at some point.
Anyhow, congratulations on your example it is very nice😁
 
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Thanks @Omega1, and @cristos71.

Glad to give back to the community !
It didn't take too long to get the extract, something like 2/3 weeks IIRC. Price 120 CHF for email version, 150CHF for paper version.

Also thanks @minutenrohr, that's an interesting piece of info.

Dear Syrte,
This is fun and fabulous information! ...Look how much interest you've generated on ONE (1) WATCH !!!

Now it is teasing time....
Being from Texas, I have to ask if BLACK in Texas is a different color than BLACK in Europe?
(Oxidation or camera chip saturation makes it appear brown/burgundy?)
 
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Dear Syrte,
This is fun and fabulous information! ...Look how much interest you've generated on ONE (1) WATCH !!!

Now it is teasing time....
Being from Texas, I have to ask if BLACK in Texas is a different color than BLACK in Europe?
(Oxidation or camera chip saturation makes it appear brown/burgundy?)
Guess Europe is a tropical destination where black dials turn brown...
 
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Guess Europe is a tropical destination where black dials turn brown...

A dial with a proper tan, then...😉
 
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I can only hope we find out more from an original owner at some point.
Anyhow, congratulations on your example it is very nice😁
Thank you @Rman, for sure it would be fantastic. As a matter of fact I've tried to enlist help from a couple people but it may not be so obvious as someone who would have been 20 say in 1956 around the time those chronographs might have been distributed would now be 81....
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@Syrte great thread, thank you very much for all the due diligence. I can't help myself so just pulled the trigger on this.... falls with in the serial number range. Hands obviously relumed but military watches are kind of acceptable in that aspect...
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@Syrte great thread, thank you very much for all the due diligence. I can't help myself so just pulled the trigger on this.... falls with in the serial number range. Hands obviously relumed but military watches are kind of acceptable in that aspect...

Congrats @ELVweb, I like the shimmer on the dial!
(Is that the one @Faz was selling? I'm not sure as his seemed more patinated, but if so, dibs!)
 
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Congrats @ELVweb, I like the shimmer on the dial!
(Is that the one @Faz was selling? I'm not sure as his seemed more patinated, but if so, dibs!)
Nope, from an old time dealer. Picture is of the seller. Will take a better one once it gets here. Thank you once again.
 
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Nope, from an old time dealer. Picture is of the seller. Will take a better one once it gets here. Thank you once again.
Again, my pleasure. What interests me in watches is not just design and craftsmanship, but history.
 
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A member of the Italian forum «Orologi e Passioni » just posted today in a discussion the following, new and compelling information - with thanks to @nicola1960 for helping transfer OF discussions and info on Orologi e Passioni (where it is forbidden to post links to other forums).
Since OF does not forbid linking, the discussion on O&P is below:
https://orologi.forumfree.it/m/?t=78420565&st=75#entry668709915

in substance, this member named Alberto says he acquired one of those chronographs from the son of the original owner. The original owner was an artillery officer with the grade of major, and in 1954 he was a Tito supporter and serving in Tito’s guard.

The testimony reported from the son is that those watches were commissioned by the Ministry of Defense but were not issued- they were made available for private purchase by officers.

Here’s a translation via Google translate of a key part of the post:

« The watches in question had been ordered by Yugoslavia's defense ministry and offered to officers, but not awarded (« assegnati » aka «issued » ). Officers who wanted one had to pay for it through salary deductions spread over the years. At the time and in that country this already constituted a privilege, however there is no specific connection with the Air Force as is often said (Except for the fact that surely some Air Force officer will also have bought one). »

He also says they tried to get more info from archives located in Belgrade (Serbia), but the request went nowhere due to the partition of the country and the fact the seller and his father harked from a region which is now a different country, namely Slovenia.

Posseggo anch’io uno di questi splendidi crono, ho avuto la fortuna/onore di poterlo acquistare dal figlio del proprietario originario e assieme ne abbiamo ricostruito la storia.
Il possessore del mio 143 era un ufficiale di artiglieria, già,partigiano Titino, nel 1954 era in forza nella guardia di Tito col grado di maggiore.
Gli orologi in questione erano stati ordinati dal ministero della difesa della Jugoslavia e offerti agli ufficiali, ma non assegnati. Gli ufficiali che ne volevano uno lo dovevano pagare tramite trattenute sullo stipendio spalmate negli anni. All’epoca e in quel paese già questo costituiva un privilegio, non risulta invece alcuna connessione specifica con l’aeronautica come spesso viene detto (Al netto del fatto che sicuramente anche qualche ufficiale di Aviazione ne avrà comprato uno).
Sia chi mi ha venduto l’orologio che il proprietario originario erano Sloveni (come pure Tito), con il figlio del proprietario (oggi signore ultra settantenne e bellissima persona) abbiamo tentato di contattare il Ministero della Difesa Serbo (erede di quello Jugoslavo) ma non rispondono a cittadini stranieri, l’assurdo è che lo stesso figlio che ha chiesto info ha militato in quell’esercito per 3 anni (quando c’era ancora la Jugoslavia).

Ai documenti di <mark data-uid="11959394">Ragazzadiparigi</mark> aggiungerei che la produzione dei 2000 crono fu diluita nel tempo, il mio ad esempio è datato da Zenith dicembre 1954, questo fa sì che tra i diversi pezzi in giro ci siano anche piccole differenze, ad esempio alcuni hanno grafiche bianche e altri gilt.
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Highly unlikely story from one Son of an Army Officer in Jugoslavia .... Heresay . In 1954 Yugoslavia had no Money. The communist party had no assets to use hard currency to buy fancy Swiss Chronographs to on-sell them via salary sacrifice to Officers . The state could not feed their own people in the 1950's. Unlike Poland, who had Oil, they sold for $$$$$ and could buy with these $$$$$ stuff in the West. The polish clearance divers got issued Blancpains, big size 2 crown Enicars ...