I saw this Zodiac on eBay.

[martyn]

Hi guys,

I'm new to owning a Zodiac watch and LOVE them.

Can any expert out there lend me their careful eye. I've seen a really nice watch on eBay and I love the look of it. So vintage, and the red looks great on the strap and face. But, is it a genuine Zodiac? And also, is it worth the £80 price tag. It was listed originally as £149.99.

Any advice, or additional information on this watch as to the manufacture date and/or age would be greatly appreciated.

The ebay auction is number: 270535857453

[Sea Wolf]

The auction says " Professionally refurbished Black dial with steel figures "

To my knowledge Zodiac did not make this watch with red.  The dial has been redone.

Butch will be around to tell you much more about this.

Welcome aboard!

[Butch]

It is now sold. SW is right, but if you like it and the price, buy it is always my advice. Just be aware that as a collectible, it is valueless as-is, so only worth what a buyer is willing to pay. Both now, and in the future.

[jon p]

it looks good, but not original. i have noticed the sellers in india seem to like to change watch dials a LOT with some very unusal color choices. recently there was an omega with a kinda mint green dial that i do not believe omega ever used ! i agree, i never have seen any zodiac with red on the dial. not bad looking overall if you are NOT going after ORIGINAL zodiac. see butchs gallery--zodiacs that never were for some very unusal examples.   JON

[martyn]

Ah, I now it's sold Butch. That was because I bought it in the end. It arrived today and I absolutely love it. The quality of the watch looks a thousand times better than in the pictures on the auction.

It's disappointing to know that they never made a watch with red numbers on the face, because it's funny, that's the part I love the most about it!

I would be in agreement with Jon, it looks to me like they have repainted the numbers in red. They done this very very well, but if you look very very closely, it looks as it may be a paint over, but it is very very difficult to tell.

As a follow up query though. The red details aside, is this a face and case that Zodiac made, or do you think they it is the combination of several different watches put together? It has the words Zodiac written on the face and on the back and seems genuine.

[jon p]

  MARTYN-- congrats, i think you got a great looking watch, i really like its looks too! does it run good and keep accurate time? enjoy it, no one else will have one like it,should attract a lot of attention when you wear it.  JON

[martyn]

Thanks Jon.

It has bought a lot of attention already. Everyone keeps looking at it... although, that's probably more down to the fact that everyone I meet, I go "Have you seen my new watch?" and then thrust it into their face immediately!

I've never owned a wind up watch before, so not entirely certain how often you're meant to wind it, but it kept perfect time literally to the second for about 48 hours, but then I noticed it had lost 10 minutes. So I corrected the time using the world clock and re-wound it. It's kept perfect time since then, again, to the second.

Is it correct that you need to re-wind a watch every 48 hours, or should it run for longer than this?

[Ultra-Vintage]

Is it correct that you need to re-wind a watch every 48 hours, or should it run for longer than this?

For a manual wind watch you should wind it fully once a day.  The majority of watches have a power reserve of 40hrs or less, so 48 hours is too long.  As you let it run to the end of its power reserve, the liklihood that it will not keep proper time increases as well.

[jon p]

  on my manual wind watches i make it a habit to  wind them at about the same time every day-this will assure you dont forget. do not overwind-it is harmful to wind too much.when you feel some resistance stop winding. most watches have a type of clutch to prevent over winding but no sense in pushing it.  JON