Fratello On Air: Balazs Talks With Bosko About The Zenith 143-6

Meet the man behind the "Zenith Yugoslavian Military Chronograph Collector’s Guide"

December 12, 2023

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Mike and I are taking some time off from the podcast this week, but we’d still like to leave you with an episode. So this week, I’ll publish my talk with Bosko, the man behind the “Zenith Yugoslavian Military Chronograph Collector’s Guide.” This guide won’t be out for another few days, but rest assured, it’s coming this week. Don’t worry; vintage chronographs are not the only topic the guys will discuss. While this is indeed a vintage-heavy episode, plenty of other timepieces get a mention.

Aside from the usual watch talk, Bosko and I sprinkled in some drinks, sports, travel, and other topics. We hope you enjoy this particular collector-focused discussion.

Handgelenks Kontrolle

It’s a tradition on our show that Mike and I do the Handgelenks Kontrolle, which also goes for guests. For the recording, Bosko did not wear his beloved Zenith 143-6. Instead, he rocked a fantastic vintage US Military field watch, a MIL-W-46374B made by Hamilton. This early ’80s timepiece is as much fun as it gets. A genuine military watch, these very models were the predecessors of many modern field watches, such as the Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical.

I was rocking something like the Zenith 143-6, namely, my Angelus 215 Hungarian Air Force chronograph. I wore it in honor of the Zenith to stay on theme with the show. While they came from different eras and saw action in different countries, both timepieces had close military ties. That is different from how Bosko and Balazs got to know each other, which resulted in this podcast.

A. Lange & Sohne Datograph ref. 403.035 — Image: Sotheby’s

JLC, Lange, and more

Although Bosko and I initially started talking about the Angelus Chrono-Datoluxe, the conversation quickly shifted. As it turned out, Bosko is not merely a fan of the Zenith 143-6 (like me). In fact, he even wrote a guide about this model. Please stay tuned as the third and final installment of the Zenith 143-6 topic will come this Friday. That will be the day the Zenith 143-6 Yugoslavian Military Chronograph Collector’s Guide will come out. I also acquired one of those timepieces, so the interest was mutual. This led to further discussion, the recording of this episode, and finally, the publishing of the Collector’s Guide. But before we jumped into that topic, we chatted about some marvelous timepieces in Bosko’s collection — none of them are vintage, for the record. An amazing Jaeger-LeCoultre Duométre gets a mention, and so does an A. Lange & Söhne Datograph.

We hope you enjoy this latest episode, and thank you for listening. If you have ideas for future shows, please let us know.

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Fratello On Air: Balazs Talks With Bosko About The Zenith 143-6

Thanks Balazs for this bonus episode – Bosko sounds like a great guy and this ticked all the boxes for me! Really fascinating and great to hear your interview with Sebastien Chaulmontet getting a mention. Look forward to you publishing the guide, and I think future chats with collectors sounds like a winner.

balazs says:

Dec 13, 2023 at 08:32

Appreciate your comment, Dan, as always. More chats are coming, and those will be equally intriguing I hope. Stay tuned.

This was a great episode, especially for me, living in Belgrade, Serbia. Both you, Balazs, and Bosko are well-spoken and super knowledgeable, and it was a pleasure listening to you guys speak about the history of military watches in the region.

Local forums list the Heuer Bundeswehr 1550 SG and Breitling ana-digi Pluton watches as those worn by JNA pilots. Many of them regularly pop up in local marketplaces.

By the way, Tito was the real deal when it comes to Patek. He owned many important references, and one of the most famous was the 1591 in yellow gold, being the oldest perpetual calendar with center seconds and the moonphase manufactured by Patek Philippe. That one fetched a record value at the Phillips auction in the early 2000s.

Bosko says:

Dec 15, 2023 at 01:49

Thanks Nenad!

There is also the Rodana to add to the JRV watch list, which purportedly predates the Zenith. It would have been the only one with JRV engravings on the caseback, not unlike the Hungarian L.E.