The Rake and Revolution launched the Zenith x Revolution Chronomaster Revival Ref. A3818 “Cover Girl” on the 25th of February 2020, at Miami, Florida. And while the COVID-19 situation was yet developing, we’re thankful that as many people managed to join us for the launch and celebrate the comeback of one of Zenith’s most desired timepieces.

At a watch launch event – at any given watch event really – you can bet your bottom dollar that every warm bodied attendee will have something on their wrist that’s worth a double-take. One such gent at our Miami launch event was Eric Wind, whose wristwatch for the evening didn’t just deserve a double-take, but a triple and then some.

You might know Eric from his days at Hodinkee, where he was the man behind Bring a Loupe. He then moved on to work with Christie’s where he served as Vice President, Senior Specialist with the auction house’s watch department.

Eric is presently helming his own outfit, Wind Vintage, a company he set up to offer exceptional watches at all price points, as well as to provide advisory services to top vintage watch collectors worldwide.

Now, back to that watch on Eric’s wrist on the evening of 25th of February 2020, in Miami. When asked, Eric confesses, “On my wrist at the event was a spectacular A3818 that I bought from the son of the original owner, last year. This gentleman wrote to me on my website saying that he had found his father’s unworn A3818 while he was having to organize his father’s estate.”

Eric then proceeds to tell us why he owns a watch that very few actually know of, and only a thousand were made. “The A3818 is my favorite Zenith watch of all time. I first saw one many years ago on the wrist of my friend, the legend @lou__s who stumbled upon a spectacular example at an estate sale when he was looking for prints and I believe bought the piece for $500, not knowing exactly what it was. That lucky watch launched him into becoming one of the best Zenith experts and collectors in the world.”

No Eric, we want to know how the watch on your wrist got there. Eric continues, “I quickly called the gentleman and told him I was interested in purchasing said watch. Then I asked if he had any other watches for sale. Much to my surprise, he told me he had three other A3818s he would consider selling.

“To which I said, ‘you mean to tell me you have four original A3818s?’ [jaw firmly planted on the ground now].”

Eric then explains, “The gentleman went tell me that his father was an executive with Zenith electronics, the same company that had bought out the watch company in the early 1970s in order to buy the company’s name and essentially close that company.”

Cue the story of Charles Vermot and Zenith’s attic. You can watch it on our IGTV, here.

“One day, someone notified the executives that they had brought over a bunch of the watches from Switzerland and they were laid out in a conference room on a table,” Eric continues. “And then these executives were asked if they wanted to come in and take any, for free.

“No boxes or papers, just watches. This gentleman’s father selected four A3818s, one for himself, one for each of his sons, and one to put away unworn.”

Knowing exactly what was at hand, Eric clearly did not waste any time, but he’s a humble man, so he says, “Fortunately, I was able to purchase all four, all in beautiful condition, with three presently in the collections of dear friends of mine and the fourth previously unworn one (on the original black strap with original buckle) now in my personal collection.”

The story done and told, we then asked Eric for his take on the Zenith x Revolution Chronomaster Revival Ref. A3818 “Cover Girl”. He shares, “A belated congratulations to Wei Koh and Zenith, The Rake and Revolution Magazine for the release of the Zenith A3818 “Cover Girl” Revival!

“It was awesome attending the launch event in Miami last month and catching up with Wei.

“When I was with Wei at your Miami event, it was actually the first time I wore it and I didn’t want to put wear on the original strap so I carefully swapped it for another one of my favorite straps.”

Read more about the Zenith x Revolution Chronomaster Revival Ref. A3818 “Cover Girl”, here.