Zenith Black Pilot 143-6

LouS
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Here's a pretty example of a Zenith Cal 143-6 (Excelsior Park) from german Ebay. It's wildly overpriced (more than twice what these go for), and in typical German ebay fashion a Germany-only sale with no PayPal and no returns, but still nice to use as an index for the refrence. These are frequently denominated as Yugoslav military watches, although I've not seen any conclusive documentation of that.

Out of curiosity, I once took a radiation counter to my watches, and this model was the most radioactive by far. Perhaps supplied to the Yugoslavs by the CIA?

http://goo.gl/ZDrxlr

$_57 (3).JPG $_57.JPG $_57 (1).JPG
 
Stewart H
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That's good old Radium for you. I bought a job lot of spare parts in sealed packets last year and opened a couple of the hand sets. The radium had actually eaten through the waxed paper inside the packets, so no wonder that the minute hand in this watch has started eating itself. I bet it still glows like a good 'un. I think it's the mineral version of ebola.
 
woodwkr2
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Do the crowns typically protrude so far?--or is that an issue with the case tube or stem?
 
LouS
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They do not. As the watch is nicely set to the traditional watch display time of ten past ten, I'll wager the seller pulled out the crown to set it there and forgot to push it back in.
 
woodwkr2
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LouS LouS
They do not. As the watch is nicely set to the traditional watch display time of ten past ten, I'll wager the seller pulled out the crown to set it there and forgot to push it back in.


And I'd wager that your explanation is more likely than mine.
 
speedbird
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I used to wear a radium zenith pilot. Fantastic watches!
 
minutenrohr
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Hi all, thank you for mentioning my Zenith. You´re right, it´s overpriced. But in german ebay, nearly nobody (in the vintage dept.) buys higher priced pieces really via EBAY and its little expensive doughter PAYPAL. So it´s only an announcement, to tell the world, that the watch is for sale.

I had some very nice communication during the last months - and if it would be easier to ship it to the USA, i would have sold it.
Anyway: I think it´s better to get to know the seller by communicating a little bit. No misunderstanding, no trouble...

regards - h.u.
 
LouS
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minutenrohr minutenrohr
Hi all, thank you for mentioning my Zenith. You´re right, it´s overpriced. But in german ebay, nearly nobody (in the vintage dept.) buys higher priced pieces really via EBAY and its little expensive doughter PAYPAL. So it´s only an announcement, to tell the world, that the watch is for sale.

Very interesting. It is true that there barriers to an easy exchange are routine on German Ebay listings - no PayPal, no shipping outside of Germany, much less outside of the EU. This has been going on for many years. We have often commented that the ebayers must not want to sell their watches. We all certainly have our frustrations with eBay in the US as well, but when we list on eBay - most of us, anyway - we do it to move the watch, and via Ebay, using PayPal. Why do you think the German vintage community has been so resistant to this in comparison? I assume the fees and policies are the same.

Very nice watch, by the way, and I agree with your sentiment that a little communication prevents a lot of headaches.
 
minutenrohr
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...ok - please apologize my imperfect english: all was tolerable, when ebay fees were limited to 50 euros. then it it rose to generally 10%; so i thought, that i should add that 10% on my price. but more and more potential buyers asked for the "best price - but private" - so it´s not easy to reply "nono, i´m the nice one who will render unto caesar/ebay the things that are". a further reason is, that there will be no renegotiations between me and the buyer after we traded. but i tell him, that i redeem the watch if he is not satisfied - without discussion (i never would write that in an ebay offer)... mostly we are talking on the phone or we write and send detailed pictures to prevent disappointment(s).
also there´s paypal (in case of international transactions) + the paypal "currency-exchange-fees" - further 5-9%.
at last i lose ca. 15% - that´s nearly as much as i have to pay using an non-internet-based auction house. viewing the fact, that i am not a watch dealer (i have to pay normal prices for my watches - and, if necessary, cleaning etc. by a serious watchmaker) it´s more than unprofitable to trade international or even national with higher priced items. so i make it "private" some time, accepting the potential ruin of ebay.
and: i never earned much money by selling watches, it´s the desire to buy and sell for reasonable prices with friendly and watch-interested people and to have my peace beeing able to ignore commercial considerations. sorry, i would have had better words in my own language, perhaps a little bit more ironic and with less holiness...

regards - h.u.
 
LouS
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Your reply is perfectly comprehensible in both language and sentiment. It is true that over time ebay has become less friendly to sellers. The time for an alternative is ripe.
 
minutenrohr
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thank you! some more pics - just for entertainment...
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knvqn
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Indeed a beautiful watch. What is the difference between the cal 143 and cal 143-6? What does the suffix imply?
 
Faz
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Hello minutenrohr,

I acquired this example late last year. I fell in love with the wabi sabi and the price was right. What would cause the radium to spread across the dial like this?

FullSizeRender.jpg


Thanks in advance,

Faz
 
minutenrohr
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What makes you sure, that the dial condition (looks nice to me) is caused by the radium (+ zinc sulfide)? There´s also ultraviolet light, humidity, chemical reactions beetween metal and coating (?) - for ca. 60 years...
 
Faz
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That's why I was asking. It certainly looks like the radium of the indexes and numbers have spread across the dial since the radium on the numbers is almost absent no? Looks like radium powder to me.

Thanks in advance
 
MMMD
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The hour-number lume looks intact to me, just blackened. I suspect degradation of the paint/varnish, maybe with some brass now showing through.
 
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