Have an interesting find as on me - Ebel/Zodiac Sea Wolf.
Was not aware Zodiac was issuing these for Ebel.
Found on Internet auction in Switzerland.
Redial. And a good one it looks like. Zodiac obviously had nothing to do with them. Even were it a screw up from the dial maker there is no way it would have left the factory like that. Back then all watches were literally put together by hand. Someone in the factory would have noticed it and tossed it aside for the boss to talk to the dial maker about.
That thing is full of curiosities for sure. Note the rotor. Is it an AS movement? Yeah, I would have had to buy it too, but knowing it is not from Zodiac. If you don't mind my asking, what did you pay for it?
Mind you, I know nothing about EBEL that I did not just learn in the past 10 min. Curious company of high end watches that was owned by the family until 1994.
164680650281 - From the same period it appears.
Some observations from close inspection under magnification:
1. Movement is definitely genuine Ebel 213 (similar example from eBay 133513419538). All markings on it are not from Zodiac. (Ranfft movement database has record for this caliber)
2.Dial looks like just from factory. I saw that distinctive rainbow aging film on the dial varnish on many Zodiac SW dials previously. Don't see any evidence of redial under microscope.
3. Uniform patina of Radium compound on hands and markers.
4. All components (movement version, Radium dial, case design) are period correct. No any sign of later altering or modification.
Snagged it for few hundreds of Swiss franks.
OK, at that price I would have passed on it then. Anther funny thing is that the EBEL logo is not correct for that era.
Found this interesting tidbit. https://www.hushhush.com/watches/wrist-watches/ebel-nautic-diver/ (https://www.hushhush.com/watches/wrist-watches/ebel-nautic-diver/)
I dunno, moving on though. Too old to start learning another brand.
Why put both an EBEL wordmark and the Zodiac logo on? Just seems like a really bad idea, that would be in the interest of none of the brands.
Agreed, thanks for pointing that out.