New Member - pilot lady model 8454-s4

[emmak]

Hi, I am looking to get a watch to replace my 1939 favre leube which is not really suitable for daily wear and have finally plumped for the pilot lady - its has everything I want, once I add a steel bracelet, and it looks perfect on paper. The Zeno website makes mention of a new variant with a blue mother of pearl dial - see http://www.zeno-watch.ch/en/Lady-Qua...ilot-lady.html
Does anyone have any experience of this watch - I know its similar to the lady speedbird but thats sold out - any comments, or thoughts on the blue dial combo with the steel bracelet? My Favre Leuba is here
http://www.iknowthe.net/watch.jpg - its about 27mm diameter and lovely, just the right size for me but its too good to wear everyday and I just know I am going to put my hand in the bath while wearing it - and anyway, I want an automatic...

Thanks
Emma

[Kettlebelly]

The Pilot Lady looks like a fine watch for a small wrist. I was going to buy a Lady Speedbird for my daughter, but hesitated - and now they're gone. :shock:

The Pilot Lady with black dial, black leather strap, and a stainless deployant clasp would make an elegant daily-wear combination, but that blue dial with a stainless bracelet might look even better. I wonder if Eddie can supply it?

I personally find the quartz watches very ordinary, no matter the maker. Might as well just get a Swatch or Timex, as they have as much "character" as any other battery-operated gizmo. But that might just be "a guy's view." :D

[emmak]

I personally find the quartz watches very ordinary, no matter the maker. Might as well just get a Swatch or Timex, as they have as much "character" as any other battery-operated gizmo. But that might just be "a guy's view." :D

Nope, I agree too, they have no appeal to me - hence the interest in a modern automatic ladies size :)

[abraxas]

.
How about the PILOT Lady Pointer Moon? It must be nice to have something extra to look at ...

Welcome, by the way. The Favre Leuba is very sweet.

john

[Dave E]

Don't know the watch, but if it's similar to the Lady Speedbird (and the case certainly looks it) it should be nice piece. I bought a Lady Speedbird for my wife last year and it's a classy looking model, good size for her wrist. I like the dial and hands on the Zeno model as well, plus the date is always handy in my opinion!

Welcome to the board, by the way!

[emmak]

.
How about the PILOT Lady Pointer Moon? It must be nice to have something extra to look at ...

I know but its an extra £50 , and I'm not sure I think the date pointer is that readable compared to a date window. Its not as classic looking anyway, although I do like it....

[emmak]

Well, I have my watch so I thought I'd post a very quick review of it for those that are interested - there are no pictures on the web of the blue faced version of the Zeno Lady pilot, just a mention of it on the Zeno website, and it a took a while for Zeno to get a picture to me as Baselworld was on. It turns out that the mother of pearl face is very diffficult to get an accurate picture of - the one they sent isnt very accurate, but it was good enought that I special ordered the blue face version with sapphire crystal and metal bracelet.

The watch took just over a week to come, which is pretty fast, and I asked for a gold plated version of the automatic ETA 2671 movement which zeno were kind enough to dig out for me. Its a really solidly built watch, and feels indestructable especially with the sapphire crystal and feels just heavy enough on the wrist to know its there. Its about 1mm bigger than the Favre Leuba it is replacing as my daily wearer in diameter but is a lot thicker (funnily enough something went wrong with the winder on the FV the same day I placed the order for this with eddie!) and is the perfect size for me. The watch has lost 1-2 seconds over the last 3 days so its keeping good time, the face is very readable, I love the lumed hands and numbers, and the bracelet is good quality for the price. So if you missed the lady speedbird, this is a nice buy. I think it looks pretty slick with the blue face - there is a white MOP dial version apparently but this didn't look very readable to me as the lume is white on the numbers and the black face was perhaps a bit too masculine for a daily wearer for me.
Pics below

[Griswold]

That looks really nice Emma, enjoy, and wear it in health. :) :) :)

Did you get it from Eddie? or did you go to Zeno direct?

[emmak]

Thanks :) I got it from Eddie.

[abraxas]

Congratulations.

As you say we cannot see the colour of the dial very well in these pics. Only the other day I was thinking about us men and tool-watches ... the amount of abuse some women put their watches though is excruciating and still they sail through. My mum used to have this little GP automatic on a GP fix-o-flex that went for years through hell and back.

You sound like a one watch woman ... let us know how get on, after you lived with it for a while.

john

[Dave E]

Very nice, I'd love to get a better view of the dial!

[emmak]

more pics of the dial :)

[rfrazier]

That does look like a dial difficult to photograph. It must be interesting to see it in changing light.

Best wishes,
Bob

[abraxas]

more pics of the dial :)

..............

Very interesting indeed. I was reading recently that natural stone of all types and including mother of pearl is becoming the in-thing for dials.

AP have a ridiculously expensive one where the arbors are running directly into the stone but I cannot find it on the web. What amazed me about this watch was that when they cut the stone 4 out every 10 slates are unusable or something like that.

Anyway, the blue mother of pearl definitely gives the little watch a different air.

john