Did you know that Zenith is the only Swiss brand with the right to feature the word “Pilot” on the dial ? This has been the case since the brand’s forward-thinking founder Georges Favre-Jacot registered it as a trademark in 1888.

Zenith has been around for over 160 years and has won many chronometry awards and released the worlds 1st automatic chronograph, the famous El Primero” in 1969. The maison come very close to ceasing to exist in the 70’s after the quartz crisis and a couple of ownership changes, only hanging on by the skin of its teeth until the El Primero made an unlikely comeback in the 1980s…which is a whole other story (and an intriguing one indeed : google Zenith Charles Vermot).

Zenith created many pre-war, wartime, and post-war field-watch type models, including this Pilot. I purchased the piece from a reputable watchmaker in Lausanne, Switzerland in June 2024.

The movement of this particular watch, a Caliber 126, has a 1948 serial number, however in the 1940s and 1950s movements where often assembled and then ‘cased-up’ months or in some cases up to a couple of years later, so it is difficult to attribute an exact year to the watch - as the movement is definitely from 1948, suffice to say the watch is from the same year or soon thereafter…ie, around 75 years old ! Running well at around +10sec/day DU.

Beautifully painted and lacquered dial with changing pale gold colored outer ring and sublime gold numbers with fine black outines…one of the finest dials I have seen of this age. In different light, dial color presents very distinctly diverse colors : golden/cream/silver. Must be seen in natural light to appreciate.

• 34mm polished case retaining original rounded shape with original crown

• Screw-down case-back marked Waterproof/Anti magnetic/Stainless Steel/Shockproof

• Elegant silver color leaf hands showing very little oxidization

• Delivered on khaki NATO strap PLUS brown padded Geneva Blue Horween (gloss black croco as photographed included on request)

Free delivery Perth metro, please contact prior to order for secure shipping elsewhere. Price DOES NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING - Online orders without shipping consideration will be cancelled and refunded.