REDUCED: ORIGINAL Vintage Fortis Marinemaster Tritium Dial Super Compressor Diver

[tomvox1]

Up for sale is this iconic and rare original vintage 1970s Fortis Marinemaster automatic diver in classic dual crosshatch crowns Super Compressor case. This is not one of the ubiquitous NOS Luminova assemblages that can be bought all day long but the original period article with fantastic colored dive table calibrations and wonderfully aged Tritium luminous plots. Its legendary dial is in Near Mint condition as is the inner rotating bezel. This big diver features an ETA 2784 movement with quickset date that has just been completely overhauled by my Master Watchmaker and so will come with a 6-month movement guarantee for all normal, non-abusive use. The watch looks to have lived a genuine tool watch life, shows a nice amount of WABI and is in overall Very Good vintage condition. This Marinemaster has tremendous wrist presence and is a very hard to find variation of genuine period Super Compressor.

The asking price for this cool original and fully serviced vintage Fortis Marinemaster diver is now REDUCED to just $1650 USD OBRO including fully insured FedEx shipping worldwide. Bank Wire preferred but Paypal is OK with +2% to the buyer. Payment must be made in US DOLLARS. Other payment options upon application. Watch will ship upon full clearance of the funds, as well as any necessary bank vetting.





















CASE & BACK: Big size 42mm wide (not including crowns) x 50mm long stainless two-piece case with sharp, sweeping lugs. Case looks to have never been polished and shows its original sunburst finish on top and crisp original edges. It has some dings, scratches and marks from the years -- Very Good well-used vintage condition overall. Screwed polygon Super Compressor back has some light scratches externally but the distinctive Fortis logo is quite crisp -- Excellent cosmetic condition and again probably never polished. The inner back shows some slight corrosion along the edge but displays all correct Fortis & EPSA signatures, text & brevet/patent numbers and screws into the case smoothly and tightly. It is date coded 8-76.

DIAL & HANDS: Absolutely gorgeous and Near Mint original multicolored dial with original creamy Tritium lume plots intact and the innovative dive table printed in red & white showing just a little pleasant fading. I have surmised that this could be called a "Mark II" Marinemaster dial, as it has the dive table printed in only one hue of red and also has large rounded lume dots rather than smaller applied, luminous-filled markers. The inner caseback date stamp of 1976 would seem to support this conclusion of it being a second series dial, as the model was originally introduced in the late 1960s, I believe. The dial text is crisp and legible with the exception of a little paint loss to the Fortis "crown" logo. Calendar window at "6" features the date with some loss of print to a few of the numerals. Inner bidirectional diver's bezel is finely calibrated for depth in feet in orange for use with the dial's dive table, in addition to minutes in white, and has an orange-framed luminous triangle at "60". It is in likewise Near Mint condition. The inner bezel is controlled via the crosshatch crown at "2" and rotates freely but firmly in both directions. Original lume-filled big orange minute & small silver hour hands show a little age and are Excellent. The white sweep seconds hand could be a replacement -- its hard to find two of the same style seconds hands on old Marinemasters for whatever reason -- and appears to have had its luminous dot touched up. This dial is one of the cooler concepts from the golden age of analog dive watches and this example is really in killer shape.

CROWNS: Crowns appear to be the correct unsigned crosshatch style with appropriate wear and both function perfectly: the crown at "4" winds and pulls out to first the quickset day and then the time-setting positions, as it should. The crown at "2" controls the inner rotating bezel, as mentioned above, and also operates flawlessly.

CRYSTAL: The large acrylic crystal is clean and clear with only some light marks from age, Excellent condition.

MOVEMENT: High-grade 25-jewel full rotor automatic Fortis-signed ETA caliber 2784 movement with quickset day. The seconds hand is non-hacking. As mentioned above, this watch has just been fully overhauled with a new mainspring installed and repairs to the hairspring and detent and so is ready to go for years more or faithful service to its new owner. It will therefore come with a 6-month movement guarantee for all normal, non-abusive use.

STRAP: This cool Marinemaster diver comes on a lightly used gray NATO strap with Luminox-signed steel buckle. This big watch has a lug width of 22mm.

As a matter of policy I make NO guarantees for the water resistance of this watch in any way, shape or form

This great vintage Fortis Marinemaster diver is offered with a 3-day inspection period from the date of receipt and may be returned for a full refund (less any shipping costs incurred by the buyer). This refund is unconditional and once I get the watch back in exactly the same condition as it was sent to you, your money will be refunded. Of course, once the 3 days are over the sale will be considered FINAL.

Thanks for looking,
T.
tomvox1@hotmail.com

[tomvox1]

Bump