Pulled the trigger on this today: Lemania SwAF

[Eurocontroller]

I visited the Düsseldorf watch fair today and took a punt on this little beauty, which I thought I'd share with you gents. It was one of my typical off-the-cuff purchases that I keep swearing to myself I'll stop doing but never actually do. Apart from the bezel, which is obviously some kind of replacement type that I have never seen before (perhaps some of you Lemaniacs have?), I took a bit of a chance that the rest appeared to be OK. Here are some shots to cast your eyes over and (hopefully) put my mind at rest- let me know what you guys think? Don't worry....I've got thick skin so throw it all at me....

Some 'face' shots showing the strange bezel:






With the bezel off:




The all important case back:





The movement:





Anyone know where to start looking for a correct bezel? Needle in a haystack territory me thinks

Cheers,

Nick.

[river rat]

I have the book Zero hour has a photo of your watch with the correct bezel.I had a vintage Doxa 300T missing the bezel ring looked for months and gave up and sold it for parts.Since the bezel ring fits you mite look for a insert that's close to the original and fit's the bezel ring you have that mite be easier to find.

[danomar]

Beautiful! Looks good to me! The center seconds hand is correct, yes?

The bezel insert looks similar to a Heuer item. You should be able to find a replacement similar to the original, I hope.

[Eurocontroller]

Thanks! As far as I can tell the hands look OK. If you have any idea where to start looking for a correct bezel please let me know! I was wondering if an old Seamaster 300 bezel might fit- not correct I know but at least it looks more correct than this one. A tachymeter bezel that rotates....very useful, not!

If any of you guys come across one of these on your travels, please, please take it with you and I'll pay good money for it .

Cheers,

Nick.

[DaveS]

What a lovely watch, and what a shame that it hasn't managed to keep the original bezel.

You will probably have read that the bezel was a known fault on these, and that there were reports of them coming off in use. Hence the prevalence of examples with alternative bezels.

The bad news is that I have no idea where to look for a replacement bezel and matching acryllic bezel - it is to my knowledge a unique design to this watch, and with it being a known weakness it is almost certain that there are more watches out there than there are bezels to fit them.

The slightly less bad news is that there are chronos out there by Tissot, Wakmann, Chronograph Swiss (Selectron) and possibly others that use the same case and have the alloy bezel on them, much as the Saaf version of this watch, which I guess is somewhat more fitting than the existing (rather curious) rotating tachy.

Helmut Sinn is selling such a watch just now, but €850 for a bezel seems a bit steep, and it would also leave you with an otherwise lovely watch with no bezel.......

I agree with Daniel that the current tachy bezel also looks like one from a Heuer Autavia 2446C, so an aftermarket insert for one of those may fit and be more in keeping.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on....

Dave

[Eurocontroller]

Thanks Dave! I have indeed read about the bezels falling off and that was one of the reasons why the wrong bezel on this watch didn't put me off buying it. The rest of the watch is in great condition. Thanks for the info on the other brands that use the same case- that gives me somewhere to start looking for an alloy 60 min bezel. If I dig around long enough I am sure to find something! Any idea if a an old Seamaster 300 bezel would fit? They look more in keeping with the originals but I have no idea if they are the same size or if they attach in the same way.

Cheers,

Nick.

[andy_s]

Looks good Nick - shame (a bit) about the bezel, Dave offers some other suggestions but I would also rec'd having a dig around the PX on MWR or even putting a WTB on there. Slim chances, but you never know.

ETA - just seen that you've done this already - good luck!

Andy

[Eurocontroller]

Thx Andy! Fingers crossed eh

Cheers,

Nick

[DaveS]

Hi Nick
A Seamaster 300 bezel is tempting because of the acryllic insert, but the chances of a direct fit are minimal.

It is worth checking dimensions, but I would be really suprised if they are the same. Shocked in fact.

Hence, although my suggestions are not of original design, I think I have offered some which are from the same case design. I hope so at least, but I suggest that you check as much as possible to be sure.

If we are lucky a member like Colin will show up sometime on this thread and tell us, he has both, in original condition. Lucky sod

Dave

[Eurocontroller]

It would be intriguing to know....! Perhaps tomorrow I'll go and buy some cailpers in order to measure it exactly! In the meantime I've press ganged a couple of my Swedish work colleagues into helping me widen my search

I will of course keep you guys posted...

Cheers,

Nick.