De Luca : a great vintage

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    First time a plexi vintage watch I really like :)



    Anyway, here is my De Luca (first series), black dial, ofcourse El Primero movement.


    I prefered the first series because of


    - the plexi dial. Sapphire might be better in the way that it does not scratch but doomed plexi can be so beautifull

    - the text on the dial. I wanted as less words as possible so only the first series did not mention 'El Primero' and 'chronograph'

    - the hour markers that are rectangular and not the rounds dots


    - the hands which are very nice on this black version. I did not want the Rolex style Mercedes hands. The hands on the first series white dial De Luca are also nice ( AP RO and PP Nautilus style) but the dauphine are imo the most beautifull on this piece

    - no screw down pushers on the upper and lower pusher




    AFAIK these De Luca watches were made between 1988 and 1996. Since this is a first edition it must be from 1988 or 1989. I also found more about the production numbers on the net

    the 01.0042.400 (mine) was made in 1055 pieces in total. 375 in 1988 and 680 in 1989.


    Well, here are some pics












    Congrats, a very nice watch - in this combination and condition (dial and hands were different to the following series) very hard to find.


    @ Minerva and Pixelpirat: The dot in the bezel of the De Luca Models is not a pearl. Imho, the hole was just filled in some way with Tritium or some other luming material. In the last pic from unknown you can see, that there still is something of this material left in the hole.


    Here a pic of my model 02 2313.400 from 1994


    Now, THAT truly is a beauty...one of my all-time favorites! :gut:

    Wie... Uhrenvirus?! Was ist falsch daran, sich zur Mondphase in seine Glashütte zurückzuziehen, seine Vulcain-Lampe zu illuminoren, ein Radio mir direkt neben den Sessel zu stellen, ein gutes Bucherer zu lesen und einfach etwas zu rolexen? Andere gehen halt mit den Söhnen von Lange Oystern ernten, mit dem jungen Hans als Explorer auf die Royal Oak oder mit Paul Newman zum Daytona Beach...

    Both very beautiful watches. From the looks, I prefer screw down pushers and white dial, however, the rarity of the black dial without screw down pushers was something I was not aware of.


    Great timepieces, quite underappreciated.

    Boris,


    all the different versions of the De Luca models were more or less very rare and still underestimated.


    Of my model, Zenith has built 685 pcs. over a decade of three years.


    Due to my information, all together 8.560 pcs. of the different De Lucas have been built between 1988 and 1996.

    thanks guys


    maybe I will try to find an extra bezel insert but to be honest, it doesn't bother me that the tritium or luminova fell out the inner bezel.
    And like many of you said, this is indeed a very underappreciated piece. With some luck you can find them for a ridicilous low price.


    I will buy the white dial De Luca too and also here I prefer the first edition (plexi, no mercedes hands, no screw down pushers, ...)


    Strange that such a vintage, iconic movement (el primero) can be found for such an attractice price. I know vintage Rolex daytona's are a league of their own but even when you compare them with a vintage Blancpain 50 fathoms or a vintage Breguet type XX, the price is almost too good to be true ....


    And most important it looks super :G

    Zitat von redsubmariner

    I do not recall if that was a steel/gold case? Found this on Ebay, not bicolor, but stunning:


    http://www.ebay.de/itm/ZENITH-…tches&hash=item3a79b57ed0


    (not my auction)



    I see but that is the De Luca second series.
    Biggest difference is the bezel. The De Luca I had a rolex submariner style bezel, while the De Luca II had a bezel like a Daytona ( tachymeter bezel)
    De Luca II has a fixed bezel

    Yes, true. Fixed bezel. Still nice. I prefer the black bezel though. And personally I prefer the white dial. But the black dial is I think more in demand... This watch is a cheaper solution compared to a Daytona and at least as nice...

    Zitat von redsubmariner

    I do not recall if that was a steel/gold case? Found this on Ebay, not bicolor, but stunning:


    http://www.ebay.de/itm/ZENITH-…tches&hash=item3a79b57ed0


    (not my auction)


    Boris, all the watches from the De Luca II series had a steel case.
    Made between 1990 and 1991, Zenith has manufactured a bit more than 1200 pcs. steel/steel with silver, black and blue dials and the fix tachymeter-bezel as well as 200 pcs. with white dials, steel cases and 18k gold bezels.
    All these models had leather straps, no steel or steel/gold bracelet.


    Beside this production, according to my information a special edition of some hundred pcs. has been produced to the same time. This production also had a gold bezel, but there is no official information about the bracelets, because they have been added in Italy (probably in the customers house). Other differences to the De Luca II: mineralglass instead of plexi (DL II), screw down crown instead of no screw down crown (DL II)