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Hi Guys,
Thought I share my latest arrival, the Tutima ZUZ issued to German elite commandoes.
These were issued to 36 Commandoes belonging to the defense arm of German Customs authority in 2001, and were later taken back recently and auctioned on the German defense auction site ZOLL. After some circus I managed to secure the last remaining ZUZ issued Tutima ref 750.42. This particular version has a sterile dial with a 12 hour sub dial, and is not released for civilian sales. The civilian version comes with the standard 3 sub-dial face typical of its movement the robust Lemania 5100. The case and bracelet are made of Titanium, and the case shares the same structure with the Tutima Bund or nato, except for the addition of a bezel.
Of the 36 issued Tutima's only 5 were of this sterile variant, while another 4 had the ZUZ logo etched on the dial. Here are some pictures,
The case comes quite clean with with hardly any dings or scratches. The large case provides very good wrist presence, and sits comfortably on the wrist and the fact that it is made of Titanium makes it very light. Dial is clean, while the chrono hands are show some fading. They do reset perfectly.
I think the watch derives most of its aesthetic character from the carefully designed bezel. Due to its occupational hazards, the bezel has a few scars and scratches, but they seem well camouflaged and can be seen only at close range.
Although the watch has been serviced by Tutima prior to the auction, the winding the crown is not as smooth as I had expected. I felt some vibrations coming out of the case whole winding in the horizontal position. I suspect this quite common with older Lemania 5100 movements, since my Sinn157 and DPW exhibit the same traits. Nonetheless it does not prevent me from giving it a few winds when I start my day with it. It came with papers and service box, and also a letter from Zoll stating the sale.
The bracelet was taken out at JW, mainly due to those hard to remove pins which are notorious difficult to remove. A set of rolex pins were installed so changing straps becomes easy. I now have rolex....pins.
Case back shows the DK number, with mine ending with No. 32. I took the opportunity to ask the person in-charge of the auction at ZOLL, if there were any more ZUZ's with Ref 750.42 left for auction. The answer is a NO, and yes there were few Natos' Ref. 760.02 were auctioned of a couple of days earlier. Goes without saying this was perhaps my one and only change to grab a ZUZ.
Finally, the customary wrist shot. As you can see, the sapphire comes coated with a purple AR, which is scratched all over. I guess i will leave it as it is for the moment. AR scratches be seen only at a certain angle and when light is reflected on it. I have mounted it on an Isofrane which happens to be my preferred strap along with the Chronissimo.
There had to be some planning in acquiring a watch which was being auctioned half a world away. My first step was to get approval from a fellow collector in Germany in order to use his local address to register myself on ZOLL. A few emails to the friendly auction organizer bought me much needed assurances, in terms of payment and shipping etc. Bidding was not that fierce, with only one gentleman throwing what seemed to be hopeful bids. In the end I won the bid for a fair price, or shall I say much less than I had envisaged. After the payment was wired and confirmed the watch was shipped by Zoll to my friends German address and he shipped it to me to Singapore.
I am now a very happy man with my 2013 grail..(a bit too early to say that though)
Thought I share my latest arrival, the Tutima ZUZ issued to German elite commandoes.
These were issued to 36 Commandoes belonging to the defense arm of German Customs authority in 2001, and were later taken back recently and auctioned on the German defense auction site ZOLL. After some circus I managed to secure the last remaining ZUZ issued Tutima ref 750.42. This particular version has a sterile dial with a 12 hour sub dial, and is not released for civilian sales. The civilian version comes with the standard 3 sub-dial face typical of its movement the robust Lemania 5100. The case and bracelet are made of Titanium, and the case shares the same structure with the Tutima Bund or nato, except for the addition of a bezel.
Of the 36 issued Tutima's only 5 were of this sterile variant, while another 4 had the ZUZ logo etched on the dial. Here are some pictures,
The case comes quite clean with with hardly any dings or scratches. The large case provides very good wrist presence, and sits comfortably on the wrist and the fact that it is made of Titanium makes it very light. Dial is clean, while the chrono hands are show some fading. They do reset perfectly.
I think the watch derives most of its aesthetic character from the carefully designed bezel. Due to its occupational hazards, the bezel has a few scars and scratches, but they seem well camouflaged and can be seen only at close range.
Although the watch has been serviced by Tutima prior to the auction, the winding the crown is not as smooth as I had expected. I felt some vibrations coming out of the case whole winding in the horizontal position. I suspect this quite common with older Lemania 5100 movements, since my Sinn157 and DPW exhibit the same traits. Nonetheless it does not prevent me from giving it a few winds when I start my day with it. It came with papers and service box, and also a letter from Zoll stating the sale.
The bracelet was taken out at JW, mainly due to those hard to remove pins which are notorious difficult to remove. A set of rolex pins were installed so changing straps becomes easy. I now have rolex....pins.
Case back shows the DK number, with mine ending with No. 32. I took the opportunity to ask the person in-charge of the auction at ZOLL, if there were any more ZUZ's with Ref 750.42 left for auction. The answer is a NO, and yes there were few Natos' Ref. 760.02 were auctioned of a couple of days earlier. Goes without saying this was perhaps my one and only change to grab a ZUZ.
Finally, the customary wrist shot. As you can see, the sapphire comes coated with a purple AR, which is scratched all over. I guess i will leave it as it is for the moment. AR scratches be seen only at a certain angle and when light is reflected on it. I have mounted it on an Isofrane which happens to be my preferred strap along with the Chronissimo.
There had to be some planning in acquiring a watch which was being auctioned half a world away. My first step was to get approval from a fellow collector in Germany in order to use his local address to register myself on ZOLL. A few emails to the friendly auction organizer bought me much needed assurances, in terms of payment and shipping etc. Bidding was not that fierce, with only one gentleman throwing what seemed to be hopeful bids. In the end I won the bid for a fair price, or shall I say much less than I had envisaged. After the payment was wired and confirmed the watch was shipped by Zoll to my friends German address and he shipped it to me to Singapore.
I am now a very happy man with my 2013 grail..(a bit too early to say that though)
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