The Zodiac Sea Wolf was one of the first vintage watches that really spoke to me. I had seen other examples and decided I really wanted one of my own, and fortunately I was able to find this one in reasonable condition for a restoration - actually one of the first restorations I undertook after cutting my teeth as a watchmaker. The Sea Wolf comes with a stainless steel case, but the bezel is plated, and unfortunately it was in pretty rough shape when I aquired it. I ended up re-plating it in rhodium, which is attractive but also gives the watch a slightly different, more formal look than when it was new. The markings on the bezel were also restored (imperfectly) with the help of some epoxy paint. It is powered by the famous Zodiac 70-72 automatic movement, which is based on a manual wind A. Schild design.

Occasionally I get a watch to restore that I know is going to be a bit of an odyssey. This Oxford chronograph certainly qualifies. It came to me with a beat up & corroded case & bezel. Both the pushers and hands, other than the minute counter, had been thoroughly trashed. Fortunately the, other than replacing the mainspring, the movement didn’t require anything beyond a standard service. I was able to track down hands with a blue tint that match the aesthetic of the originals fairly well, and I (eventually, after a lot of hunting) found a pair of modern replacement pushers that, while a bit oversized, fit and function well. The case and bezel - originally chrome - were restored and re-plated in rhodium, and the crystal was replaced. After all of that, I ended up with a good looking and strong running Venus-based chronograph, so I think it was all worth it.

Possibly the most complex watch I have ever restored, this Clebar combines a full chronograph with a triple calendar & moon phase. Fortunately, these movements are built in clear layers, so the complexity of the chronograph and the complexity of the calendar mechanism become totally separate problems. It’s interesting to note that the small pushers at the 8 & 10 o’clock positions both do double-duty - the lower pusher advances the moon phase with a light press, and the date with a firmer press, while the upper controls the date and month in a similar fashion. The lever design to accomplish this dual-action behavior is definitely interesting. This watch was originally chrome plated, but the plating was in poor condition, so I stripped it and re-plated the watch in rhodium, which looks great. I probably should have done the pushers and crown while I was at it but I was being a bit lazy - I’ll get back to those eventually…

One of two Venus 170-based Chronographe Suisse watches in my collection, this one has a nice golden dial and was treated to a full case restoration with re-plating in rhodium. The hands also needed to be replaced, and unfortunately, as you can see, some of the lume separated from the brand-new hour hand (grrrr.). Watch hands that fit these old chronograph movements aren’t all that easy to find, and I didn’t think it was worth the trouble of re-luming both hands (so they would match), so I left it as is.