Back from BWG: 1968 Auto, cal. 86

[rdenney]

Not a Sea Wolf, or an Astrographic, or signed as an SST. But it does have the high-beat cal. 86, and it's freaking accurate. Since Sunday, it's run +0 s/d, and never strayed out of -2 to +2 during that period of mixed winder and wrist. BWG did his usual great job, with a new crystal and signed crown.

Rick "who'll post better pictures soon" Denney

[Nateb123]

This was just before SST became the moniker for hi beat Zodiac movements.  This model was known as a Hermetic or Senator over its lifetime and was part of the SST family.

And yes, the 86 is an amazing movement.  There's a lot of Sea Wolf love on here because its Zodiac's most iconic watch but for watchmaking prowess, the SST is the top of the heap.  Like yours, my SST Olympos is so well regulated and shock resistant that it has been +/- 0 every time I've measured it.  A watchmaker friend didn't believe me (I understood his skepticism since +/-2 is the theoretical minimum you should be able to regulate a watch to) but his machine confirmed it as well.  It's a mystery to me why they are so accurate but it's very clear that somehow they are.

Congrats on finding such a good example!

[rdenney]

Thanks.

The Cal 86 (and the 88, 70, and 72) were based on the A. Schild 1687/1688, which was a hand-wind movement. Zodiac went in with G-P, Doxa, Eberhard, and Favre-Leuba to create an autowinder for this movement. These were, as was standard in the day, bought as ebauches, which means that AS probably didn't supply it with a balance assembly. I think all of those makers had high-beat versions of this movement in the middle and late 60's. G-P was probably the first with a high-beat version, which came out around 1965. Zodiac offered them in 17 and 21-jewel versions (this one is 17), and there was also a 25-jewel version among that group of companies.

Ebel also made an autowind version of the movement (their cal. 214), sharing enough of the parts so that everything but the rotor looks the same, with 24 jewels.

The Ebel is interesting. I believe my example is older than the Zodiac, but includes an unused machined notch in the main plate that I wondered about. It's empty in the Ebel, but in the Zodiac there is something living there, and I eventually discovered that it is the hacking-seconds lever, which applies a direct brake to the center wheel. So, the plate accommodated the hacking seconds feature (else why the notch?) before Zodiac used it. The Zodiac is the only version I know of with hacking seconds, but it was something that AS at least thought of several years earlier. The Ebel has generally better finissage (and, to be sure, design), but it does not have the Zodiac's features, including the high heat, the Triovis regulator, the hacking seconds, or the push-button quick-set date. It's an interesting comparison.

Rick "too busy for better pictures as yet" Denney

[gwells]

very nice.

my first sea wolf is with him now. hoping it will be arriving back right around when my vacation ends in a couple of weeks... and that my results will look as good as yours.

[rdenney]

Thought I'd leave this thread for posterity with at least one better picture than the one I started with.



Rick "catching up on photos" Denney

[incountry]

Beautiful watch Rick; enjoy wearing it!