Just arrived. Ebel 6-pack (well, 7)

[WWII70]

WARNING picture heavy

So I was sitting at home recently and the nice lady from Movado Company Store called to say they were having a sale over the President’s Day weekend offering Ebel watches at 70% off MSRP. What was unusual was the selection of watches they received from Movado (in Switzerland, apparently) for the sale. It was an opportunity to pick up some rare and some unusual Ebels, so I could not resist and ordered these six…..

First up is a frequently seen Ebel (at least in Movado Stores), the Brasilia tank chrono which sports a ETA 2894-A2 engine on a rubber strap. I’ve never owned a rectangular watch so I thought I’d give it a go.



Second, is a 1911 with a ETA 2892-A2 movement on a supple SS bracelet. This unfortunately does not have the gold bezel and chronometer grade movement but it is nonetheless a very nice simple, elegant three-hander perfectly sized for a dress watch.

[WWII70]

Next (and getting more unusual) are 2 lesser known varieties of the 1911 BTR chrono with the Cal 137 in-house movement. Many have seen the model with red hands and rubber bezel but this version has yellow hands and SS bezel. This also comes on the butter-smooth Ebel bracelet (although I will get the black leather strap with matching yellow stitching).



A real find was the 1911 BTR chrono with titanium case, carbon fibre dial and Kevlar strap model (with white hands). I have never seen this in the flesh before and I don’t even recall being aware it existed from photos on the web. It’s an extraordinary watch. It’s light due to the titanium case, comfy on the Kevlar and the carbon fibre dial is mesmerising. You can see the mesh pattern of the fibres but the colour and texture changes in the light (I initially thought it was a hologram). Don’t be put off by the yellowish colour of the photos, it doesn’t have this shade in most lights.

[WWII70]

Finally, 2 rare ones being 10-20 years old, which makes me wonder what else is in the Movado warehouse in Switzerland??

The type E was designed to incorporate the curvy "E" from the Ebel logo into the case and SS bracelet or rubber strap. I’ve always found it an iconic design. However, I was concerned the large bezel makes the dial look small and, to me, the effect of the curvy "E" design only works well with the SS bracelet. Anyway, the design never really caught on and was replaced by the familiar 'five screw bezel' so these are fairly rare especially on the bracelet.
The type E came with several quartz movements and two automatics. 3 hander has the Cal 330 Girard-Perregaux movement while the chronograph has the Cal 137 in-house movement; along with the Le Modulor, one of the first watches sporting this movement. So I was thrilled to be offered a new type E Cal 137 chrono on SS bracelet and with the lustrous blue dial (by far my favourite colour for this watch). And it was 70% off, so they had me….



Lastly, a real surprise. Ebel used two Girard-Perregaux movements. Girard-Perregaux 3300 (Cal 330) is found in regular three handers in the 1911 and type E series (mentioned above). In addition, the 1911 Senior has the Cal 331 which features the second hand in a subdial at 9 o’clock. It took me a while to realise what was on offer but the movement showed 331 through the crystal caseback and it had the blue dial (preferable IMHO to the grey dial). I would have preferred it on the bracelet but it came on a new black leather strap (fortunately no contrast colour stitching) and it was mine.

[WWII70]

I'll post on the mystery 7th watch tomorrow.

[Rdenney]

Nice find on the cal 331 watch. I've never seen one of these at a Movado store, though I do see them for sale as new-old-stock from time to time. This is the only Ebel watch I've ever seen that used a supplied movement and had a display back. It was not the only movement of this stature they used--they also used the Lemania 8810 during the same period--but apparently they though enough of Girard-Perregaux to put it on display. These were made in early 2000's--the Senior models were gone by the Movado acquisition (and they don't appear in the 2005 catalog), but they have the stretched logo that was instituted and some point during the LVMH ownership. My 1911 Senior (also with blue dial) has the Lemania movement with a solid back. Mine is on a bracelet, but I would like it as much on the strap.

I have seen and once considered the titanium BTR, but the dial was identical to my current BTR cal. 137, and I bought the cal. 139 version with the steel bezel instead.

The Type E was always the exception, and was offered in parallel with the regular chronograph models. As you know, Ebel introduced the 5-screw bezel with the Sport Classique in 1978. The Sport Classic Chronograph (aka Chronosport) came in a range of versions: The first model from 1982-1985 (with the wave bracelet and Zenith 3019PHC El Primero movement), the 1911 model from 1986 to 1996 (with the 1911 five-link bracelet and new production Zenith 40.0 and 400 El Primeros), Le Modulor from 1996 to the early 2000's (which introduced the slightly larger case and the caliber 137), and the 1911 Chronograph through the introduction of the BTR series in 2007 or so. The 2005 catalog shows the last of these. All of those maintained a similar look, though the Roman markers of the early Chronosports were replaced with dagger markers (similar to the three-hand version in your current batch) in the latest versions. The E was the exception, and near as I can tell was a product of Investcorp design efforts after Blum had been forced out. The blue dial with the silver hands is quite nice, despite the funky Type E design. I wear mine (black dial with white hands, and rubber strap) more frequently than I thought I would.

Rick "who bought his Ebels one at a time" Denney

[WWII70]

Rick, I could have sworn you had the black dial BTR 137 9137L73
Your photo.

Did you switch out the 9137L73 for the carbon fibre dial 9137L70?

[scottjc]

A collection in one package, congratulations.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1020 using Tapatalk

[Rdenney]

Rick, I could have sworn you had the black dial BTR 137 9137L73
Your photo.

Did you switch out the 9137L73 for the carbon fibre dial 9137L70?

By identical, I meant the layout. Carbon fiber dials have never been my thing. The titanium case was interesting. I ended up with the Kevlar strap on my Tekton, but that day I bought the 139.



Rick "who put a bracelet on this watch" Denney

[geoffbot]

A collection in one package, congratulations.
Sent from my Nokia Lumia 1020 using Tapatalk

A grand slam indeed! That's how it's done.

[WWII70]

The only Grand Slam for me this year

A grand slam indeed! That's how it's done.