I'm not sure if I'm on the right board for this but this is a cool site. A guy came buy today with this great looking vintage Zodiac watch. He knows I like old watches but I don't anything about Zodiacs. I did my best to research this which I am usually pretty good at but I had no luck. The watch is in working order though it needs a tune up and cleaning. Case and band are marked 14K and have an LG symbol inside a circle. Also marked zodiac inside the case. Works are marked 17 jewels and the movement is marked 52. I would guess made somewhere around 1940... a lot of gold but i'm more interested in what the model is and the year it was made and if it was common or uncommon. Any info greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot. Rick :helpme
The 1971 Catalog on ZodiacCatalogs.com shows similar models, definitely not from the 40s. It is uncommon in the fact that the gold content makes it worth more to melt down and a lot of them disappeared back in the 80's when gold hit $800/oz.
Thanks Butch. I don't have the catalog and I can't really see spending the $30 just for a one time deal. Too bad too I would love the reference. I think a lot more people would buy them (the reference) if they were $5-10. They would make more in quantity but .... you know how that goes some people don't get marketing. Anyway I appreciate the info. I have several watches from the 40s and 50s with the same style circle in square face so I just assumed ... the other Zodiacs I saw had writing on the face other than "Zodiac" and this only had that so I thought may be a clue of some sort - I had the same feeling as you as far as scrap and value...but I am not a scrapper and the thought of doing that to a nice watch or any jewelry makes me kind of sick. I like trying to figure out what it is - it is the enjoyment of the hunt. May be someone will come along and know what the model is. Again thanks for sharing. Rick
Nor should you, I just told you it was not in there. There is no model per se for those. They are simply 14K (and 18K) Gold Dress Watches.
One more question. Were the dress watches in gold whether it be 14K or 18K offered in jewelry stores? Were they a common item regardless of the year or line/model. Did Zodiac make a lot of all gold watches ie; band and bezel? I thought it was interesting that the band was attached directly to the bezel - you can't swap it off for another band and the band is so small for a man's watch only a size 7 or so... just trying to learn as much as I can.
Thanks again.
Rick
Yes, they had dealers, just like any other brand. As for the rest, who knows? Anything more would only be speculation.