03 February 2013

Favre Leuba Sea King

I love vintage watches and while ebaying, noticed this nice looking Favre Leuba Sea King manually wound watch. I have heard of the brand before but it was ridiculously cheap.

This Swiss watch brand was really popular in India and I remember hearing that Indian company Titan bought the company in 2011. Not sure how old this watch is, the seller only mentions "vintage (1920-1970)" but I have seen another similar one on a website from 1959. Plus the fact that the seller was from India made me quite suspicious but I decided to take a punt and buy it.

It took several days to reach and was getting a little worried when I finally received it. It was nice and shiny with a brand new leather strap.

I do not really like the huge heavy watches so popular now but I think that it is a bit too small (Case is 34mm including the crown). See the comparison to my old Tissot PR50.
Tissot & Favre Leuba

The face is repainted and looks ok but if you examine it in detail, you will realise that some of the dots (for the minutes) are far from professional. They are all over the place. It also does not have the words "Swiss Made" which I see on other original and unpainted Favre Leuba watches.

favre leuba sea king

favre leuba back
As for the movement, it has the Favre-Leuba 101 shock protected, antimagnetic movement.

Wound up the watch and it was ticking. However, a few hours later it was dead. I really felt cheated and complained to the seller and he was willing to refund the money but I would have to send it back. It was not worth the effort and I took it to a small watch shop in Coventry city centre. The seller refunded £5 pounds.

The watch shop took it's time but I finally got it back this week. They replaced a spring and have serviced it - all for just £30.

I first thought of selling it on for around £100 and making a small profit but after wearing it couple of times, it has grown on me.

My first vintage manually wound watch.


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