u/Almoraaa96

Hello everyone, first time posting in here so excuse my ignorance. I'm also very new to the watch world. I'll try to make this as short as possible.

I received a family heirloom from my grandfather when he passed away, it looks like a Zenith Respirator (maybe pre respirator) from the 1970's. This watch was a Wedding gift to my grandfather in 1970.

The watch was working fine, but the date change was a little slow and it didn't change right when it hit 12 o clock. Other than that the watch was working and you could wind it or keep the movement running by wearing the watch. Guessing its an automatic.

I wanted to get the watch serviced so I could continue wearing it throughout my life and hopefully pass it onto my kids in the future. I would prefer to preserve the vintage condition as much as possible, but if certain things are broken and need replacing, then so be it.

I brought it to my local Zenith Authorized Dealer / Service Center back in January 2026. They had their in house watch maker take a look at it and he said the watch is too old for him to service it. They said it had to be sent to the Zenith Switzerland Service center in Le Locle.

The watch was supposedly sent to Zenith's Switzerland service centre for evaluation, however I have no proof of this.

Fast forward to today I received an email from my AD Rep and he said the quote for a full restoration from Zenith Switzerland is $3000 + taxes. The email I received is not a direct quote from Zenith, its just a statement of what was written on the supposed quote the AD received.

This is what was said in the email:

"Restoration:

Without warranty on water proofness and without polishing.

The procedure is done in 9 steps: Opening the case, Initial control and diagnosis / dismantling of movement

/ complete movement overhaul/adjustment / testing the rate and functions / carry out additional operations / exchange of gaskets / movement assembling / watch casing up / final control (aesthetic and functions).

Replace of Plexiglass Vintage"

There's no mention of broken parts that need replacing, no mention of dial replacement or hands being replaced, no mention of reluming of the dial.

This is all that was sent to me by email. Does this sound legit? Or am I being taken advantage of? The communication back and forth has been sub par to say the least and ive been feeling very uneasy about the situation.

It just seems absurd for me to authorize a $3000 restoration over a phone call with no signature or proof of anything from Zenith themselves.

I tried reaching out directly to Zenith Switzerland customer service back in April to verify the claims of my AD. They said they were going to look into it and I have not heard anything back for over a month now.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, as this watch means the world to me and I want to make sure its in good hands. Thank you for taking the time to read this far!