Horological Meandering

i aquired this watch approximately 2 months ago in a trade for a watch i'd been unable to sell and a few hundred dollars. i had been looking for a bronze alloy cased watch for a few years as i love the idea of a living case that patinates like a vintage dial does, but i'd never found anything that i could afford or appealed to me. it turns out that a lot of the best bronze watches are made by micro brands such as this one.

firstly the brand. Zenton. i'd never heard of them and i doubt that many of you had either. they are a micro brand who's owners are based in Hong Kong, but the watches use swiss movements and, i believe, german cases. they have only a few models released each year in limited numbers.

now the watch. this model is the B42 Bronze made in a limited run of only 20 and was only 3 months old when i aquired it. 

the case is 42mm bronze alloy, 500m WR, with screwdown steel crown, it has 1 piece screw in strap bars instead of spring bars. the case is very well made and feels very solid with a stainless steel caseback due to the fact that people can have an allergic reaction to bronze.

the movement is an ETA 2824-2 adjusted to 5 positions, but not chronometer certified. it has proved very accurate since i've owned it.

the dial is  black, very simple in design with superb lume that shines through the night.

it came with a silicon/rubber strap and a black nato strap in a pretty nice box.

these watches also come with a 10 year warranty and will be serviced every 2 years free of charge as long as you post it to them.

all of this looks good so far and is even more amazing when you see that the retail price is around $1300 plus taxes.

my trade was an absolute bargain (would you expect anything else ) and it went straight onto a brown Shell Cordovan Nato strap which suits it very well.

having done some research on another forum, the first thing i did was the 'boiled egg treatment' which effectively produces sulphurous condensation which helps to speed up the patination.

at this stage i was perfectly happy with my new watch and wore it for 3 weeks without a break.

some pictures for your perusal before i continue. 

about a month ago i saw another of these great watches for sale on the same forum i bought mine so i contacted the seller mainly to ask him why he was selling it. the seller replied that he was selling it because he already had the brown dialled model. i thought 'brown dial ?' that would be the perfect look as i love brown dials so i contacted Zenton who said they were making some more. a week later they emailed me to say they had dials in stock (when i say 'they' i mean 1 person) and if i sent the watch to them they would change the dial. i asked the cost and he replied 'about $30 '. 30 dollars for a dial including fitting !! try getting that from any named brand, add a couple of zero's and you might be more accurate.

anyway, i sent the watch away 2 weeks ago, got an email to say they'd received it and then friday got an email saying it was done, posted and the tracking number was supplied. i asked how much i had to pay them and the reply was 'call it a xmas present'. to say i was gobsmacked is an understatement. they were giving me a new dial plus fitting and delivery for nothing and i hadnt even bought the watch new.

i was even more gobsmacked when Fedex turned up at my door before 10 am yesterday (monday) with the watch.

it has been totally transformed, the dial matches the cordovan strap perfectly and it cost me not a penny.

this was without a shadow of doubt the best customer service i have ever received and possibly the best that anyone could have received. there is no way that any of the major brands would have done this, they may not even have changed the dial no matter the cost. they could learn valuable lessons from the actions of this micro brand.

this really does show that when it comes to watches it is not the money that matters.

as a finale here is a pic of the new looking Zenton bronze.

 

this is the end of my short story, but goes a long way to showing why brand names mean very little to me.

enjoy

Graham

Looks great with the brown dial!

Best

Blomman

...the best kind.

The brown dial really brings something out on that watch. Nice work once again, G.

... with you.  The people behind it is what defines the brand!  And that has little to do with the brand name sometiems.  Nothing wrong with ETA movement, IMHO.  As Art said, you are the purist or the purists!

Ken

Hi Graham,

Their good gesture has been rewarded by you.

For $30.00, they get good publicity here. Worth it.

BTW, your watch looks even better with the new dial. I agree that brand name is insignificant when we talk about relatively less expensive watches.

Regards

Ling

A very good looking piece. The bronze, brown dial & the strap is a superb match!

This company has gone beyond great customer service and it seems like a true enthusiast is behind it with monetary gains secondary. Whether they survive or not in this cut-throat environment is difficult to say but at least you got yourself a fantastic prize which is easily serviceable.

Cheers

fernando

and with all the excitment of "other" broze pieces..this one fits right in..

Congrats!

couple of question :

1) what is "boiling egg treatment"?

2) dial says 500m....did the brand provide any evidence to such claims?

glad the owners of the brand knows customer service well, and the watch and experience is pleasing to you. congrats

best,

Horo

generally, i do not like brands to who plonk a depth capability for the sake of "filling out the dial". when Azimuth launched the Sea Hum, I said quite plainly to them that they need to "prove" the depth capability stated. anyway, thats just me. reference your bronze watch, i actually like it alot.

best,

Horo