The most interesting piece in Basel 2012 .....

This is my personal opinion ofcourse !!!

Patek showed us some amazing watches, the 5204 is pure art but with a 230K pricetag ... not for me
The white Nautiluses are nice too but after all it's just another dial.

Rolex ? Not for my this year
Sorry but I really don't like the Sky-dweller and the new sub no-date .... weel, we knew it was comming
The Yachtmaster blue dial, fine

A brand which did surprise me was................ Zenith !
Some great watches at VERY affordable prices !

When I first saw the Aeronef Type 20 I liked it but it was no love at first sight
But when reading more about it
THAT IS THE WATCH OF 2012 !!! For me it is

It just looks great, it's a typical pilot watch but somehow it looks more special than what we used to see.

And most important .... the movement !
A legendary calibre 5011K , always been a pretty rare movement Zenith used for deck clocks and pocket watches.
In 1967 the celebrated movement received the most awards of all times at the Neuchâtel Observatory. It was the most precise movement ever and as far as I know it still holds this record today

Now Zenith will make a limited edition - 250 in steel and I think 75 in gold - Aeronef type 20 wristwatches with THAT movement.
They'll use old stock and not, so you really buy a piece of history.

Like Panerai did with the PAM203 (Angulus) and PAM21 (Rolex)

TECHNICAL DATA
Montre d’Aéronef Type 20
Reference
95.2420.50121/21.C723
250-piece limited series
Movement
Calibre 5011K, hand-wound
Total diameter 50 mm
Thickness 10 mm
134 parts
19 jewels
Cadence of the balance 18,000 vph
48-hour power reserve
Chronometer-certified by the COSC
Functions
Central hours and minutes
Small seconds at 9 o’clock
Power-reserve indication at 3 o’clock
Case
Polished and satin-brushed grade 5 titanium
Diameter 57.5 mm
Water resistance 3 ATM
Sapphire crystal caseback
Dial
Matt black with Superluminova-enhanced hands and numerals
Strap
Calfskin with hand-sewn topstitching, titanium pin buckle

I love it, only problem is it's size. With a 50mm movement you can't make a small watch, they made it 57.5 mm and that is huge. As much as I like it, I'm not sure I can wear it. Vintage pilot watches from Lange or IWC were also 55 mm .... but still

So the case, dial, history, movement makes it a VERY special piece
But do i want a watch I probably can't wear ?
I don't buy watches as an investment that I put in a safe

Zitat von fleckenmann

Dear Hausmeister, the watch itself is 57mm !!! The caliber only is already 50mm......

indeed 57.5

If it was 50 I would buy it in a heartbeat !

57.5 .... I need to see it first

Zitat von Niffko

unknown: Oh ... 57,5? Then this is exaclty my kind of watch I just saw it from some meters distance ... you know the price?

I've been told prices between 7500 and 9000. Not for free but for such a piece of history imo very acceptable.
...................... If it was Panerai they would ask 20.000

Also know that this top movement was used in a pocket watch back in 1998.
Probably only a few pieces were sold, the time that pocket watches were hot is long ago.

Anyway, in 1998 Zenith was a VERY affordable brand, I would dare to say CHEAP brand.
when you take a JLC and Zenith pricelist from 1998 you'll understand what I say

The thing is that even 14 years ago this (silver) pocket watch had a 3.700 euro listprice. this makes me think this must be a very good and rare movement because 3.700 for a silver Zenith pocket watch was a huge amount in 1998.
hmmm, that is a big difference with all the 5K and 10K watches we see today with a 100 euro ETA

it's official......... I absolutely LOVE it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5nIhT7HLY8

Zitat von redsubmariner

Für mich war die faszinierendste Uhr, die ich in Basel gesehen habe, die HYT... technologisch einfach ein Hammer. Ich habe ein kleines Video von der Uhr wie sie funktioniert, lade es später mal hoch auf mein Blog...

Was für ein Glück, dass ich eine arme Socke bin, sonst hätte ich die Uhr bestellt...

that was indeed a very special watch but to modern for my taste. I prefer watches that look more classic. So I can admire some pieces from Richard Mille, HYT, Hautlence, Harry Winston and others but I would not buy them ( also couldn't afford them )

Zitat von Pimpish

I also like that watch. No question, its a real beauty!
But what I don't like is this statement:

Zenith found some 1956 unused movement at the factory and reassembled them into this rather extra wide pilot wrist watch. This movement used to be a real timekeeping instrument found in cockpits and won many chronometry award for its extreme precision.

I mean,..are those guys serious? There are about 250 mvts somewhere in the attic and no one konows or cares about?

Well, if a company is managed like this it is ruled by government

Alles anzeigen

They knew they had these movments but didn't sell them.
These movements are very rare which made the very expensive. If you make a totally new movments and you sell 100.000 of these movements, the price per unit is the total costprice devided by 100.000.
The 5011K is probably made in less then 1.000 pieces EVER, so the cost per unit must be a lot

To give you an idea. I still have a Zenith catalog from 1997.
When you look at an Elite 3 hands, date, automatic you'll notice is costed 1.190 euro.
Yup, 15 years ago watches were a lot cheaper LOL
In the same catalog they has a pocket watch with the 5011 ( still old stock from the 1950's - 1960's) and they asked 3.700 eiro for a silver pocket watch.
So it was more than 3 times more expensive than an Elite
Pocket watches are not popular since 50 years and with such a high price they didn't sell

Today putting them in an oversized wristwatch is something else. I tried a few dealers and the response I got was........ 'SOLD OUT'

it's a legendary piece for Zenith.
And whil Zenith can be found with a good discount and definitely secondhand I'm almost sure this could be the first Zenith which will go above list.

I also think they will be very hard to get second hand. People that buy these do buy them as a collection piece so after one year they will not sell it.

btw, Panerai and Patek also had watches with old-stock movements

Zitat von tourby

The Zenith watch has an very interesting large movement... but it is not so rare like the Angelus 240 and don´t have 8 days power reserve. However, i like the movement.
a Pilot watch should be more classic....

hmmm, are you sure about that ?

As far as I know the Angelus SF 240 was not special at all. It is indeed an 8 days but you could find it in a lot of Travel clocks, Alarm clocks ...
I'm not aware of the total production number but I have a feeling it must be MUCH more the Zenith's 5011K which was made around the 1960's at probably 50 pieces per year.

And OK, an 8-days is cool but a movement that won the most presigious contest is imo much, MUCH more important

This COSC-certified chronometer comes with a pedigree to match its beauty: it contains the famous 5011 pocket calibre that was so successful for Zenith in the 1960s – and in 1967 was named the most accurate chronometer ever tested by the Neuchatel Observatory.

As for the looks, I like Panerai too but some hate them so saying which one looks the best is not a fact but a personal opinion