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S02E21: Yugoslavian Zenith 143-6 Pilot (WWII, Cold War, Theft & More)
Description
Description:
A bonus episode, and a single watch. Riste tells the story of a vintage Zenith Yugoslavian Air Force chronograph, cal. 143-6, powered by an Excelsior Park movement. Why a 1940s wartime caliber ended up in a watch ordered in 1954 for the pilots of Tito's non-aligned Yugoslavia. Why the production date of a movement and the issue date of a watch are almost never the same thing. Why the screw-down caseback tells you more than the dial does. And the personal story underneath all of it: a dial handed down by a great- uncle who fixed watches for love and never money, a promise to make it whole, a 2023 break-in, and a stranger who heard the story and finished what family started.
Keywords:
Mentioned in this episode: Zenith, Excelsior Park, the Yugoslav Air Force, the Tito–Stalin split of 1948, Pilot