Zenith - restoration of an aviator

[Foggy]

Hi all

This Aviators cockpit watch was a boot sale purchase a few months back. I paid £40 for it, knowing very little about it. It was a non-runner, and on opening it later at home the resaon became obvious. There was no balance in the watch. The movement was signed Billodes, so I did a search on google. This led me to the name of Zenith. Billodes was an early signature for movements destined for export. Hmmm, no other mention of Zenith on the watch. Or was there ? A further search on the name from the dial, "Georges Favre-Jacot", revealed that this was the Zenith name before they became Zenith.

By now, my interest in this timepiece had increased considerably. Zenith cockpit watches are pretty hard to come by, but this one is probably even more scarce. Note the RAE repair mark to the dial. According to Ziggy's book, this is the Royal Aircraft Establishment repair mark prior to 1918.

Nexy step was to identify the movement to see how hard the parts search may be. I posted it on a number of watch fora, and a very good friend from South Africa advised me that the movement was an Octava 8 day movement. Used in other cockpit watches, and sometimes found in travel clocks of the period. Worth checking out old travel clocks on Ebay for a donor. I searched "8-day" for about a week on Ebay and turned up nothing. Then I thought I'd try a speculative search for "Octava", and up popped my grail "Tub of pocketwatch parts - Octava, Doxa, Revue etc". Uk based seller too. It was impossible to tell from the picture if there was a balance amongst the lot, so I sent the seller a question. The reply came back that there were a couple of balances in the lot, but no guarantee that they were for the Octava. Worth a gamble, so I put in my maximum bid of £45 and waited. Auction was duly won for £21-60.

A few days later the Ebay parts arrived. Sure enough, the balance I needed was there. Slight problem (although expected) - the balance staff was broken. I had expected this, as my friend in South Africa had suggested that the staff would almost certainly be broken due to the particularly fine pivots on this particular staff. Lucky for me, he had some spares and sent one over to me from South Africa - lifesaver :lol:

The staff arrived last week, so the watch, along with the tub of parts and the new staff went to my watchmaker for servicing and reassembly.

Back this morning, £25 later, and running a treat. A restoration that happened qucker than I could have imagined thanks to the friends I have gained on the world wide web. I love this aspect of the hobby, and always send parts to others whenever I can help out. The community aspect is what it's all about for me.

So, here we have it, the finished watch. Total investment £86-60, which I'm quite happy with. I don't expect to see another cheaper, and it's been fun sorting this one out.




Cheers

Foggy

[swanbourne]

Now that's a great story Foggy, well done.

Eddie

[rfrazier]

Nice story. And that dial is lovely. It has an interesting and fine font.

Best wishes,
Bob

[Griswold]

Superb Foggy. Ecellent job indeed. Just goes to prove the old saying 'There's always a lever if you know where to look'. (or in this case, a balance). :)

[wombat]

Interesting and nice, Foggy! Thanks for posting. :)




/ Hal

[dashiel]

Foggy,

You have the Midas touch when it comes to boot sales. I love the numerals.

Ted

[brynglas]

Beautiful looking piece, and even better that it's been given a new lease of life.

[Terry]

Life saving work Ian, another military time-peice saved from the proverbial scrap heap. I love these good news stories.

Now has anyone got a 1988 Precista Quartz diver dial knocking around?

Terry

[Crusader]

Great story and great find, Ian!

It must be immensely satisfying to bring this machine back to life, and to find out about its origins! :D

[Neil.C]

Top work Fogster. :)

Before the internet I doubt you would have ever got it fixed.

[Si]

Fantastic work, Foggy, a lot of watch for the money.
Out of interest how did you know that

...sure enough, the balance I needed was there

among the parts you acquired, esp as the original was not there for comparison?
Simon

[Foggy]

Out of interest how did you know that among the parts you acquired, esp as the original was not there for comparison?

Good question Si, and one that is easy to answer. It was the only one that fitted :lol: I also found other pictures of Octava 8 day movements to compare with.

Cheers

Foggy

[Ming Thein]

A lovely piece. :)

Ming

[doug darter]

Deeply beautiful. One to treasure, always.

Doug

[docd]

Great story and an excellent result - congratulations Foggy 8)