The watch you see below was not one that was originally made by Victorinox Swiss Army. Instead, it was pieced together to make a watch that “could have been”. I am presenting the photos as I found them except I removed the backgrounds. I did not adjust the warm color balance that makes the case look more like titanium instead of stainless steel.
A curious creation found on eBay… it is not a real Swiss Army Hunter watch
On one of my many eBay hunting expeditions, I saw a watch that was label a Victorinox Swiss Army Hunter, which is a set of watches that I know quite well. In fact, they are some of my favorite models that Victorinox Swiss Army ever produced. Check out my other article about these watches at WATCH DNA SERIES: Swiss Army Hunter Watches – Mach 1, Mach 2 and Mach 3.
Authentic Victorinox Swiss Army Hunter watches Mach 1, Mach 2 and Mach 3
Seeing how Swiss Army Hunter watches are somewhat rare, I had to check out the listing. The auction started at a modest $1 with $18 shipping to the U.S. from the Philippines. By the time the 7-day auction was over, 11 different bidders had driven the final price up to $54.44 (the average price of the donor vintage Victorinox V7-10 Sub dive watch). Considering that this watch was a “parts-bin special”, I would say that might not be bad at all for the buyer who would be getting a more serious looking watch than a standard V7-10 Sub, which seems to be on the fashion watch end of the spectrum. There were a few color variations of the V7-10 Sub watch.
A selection of Victorinox Swiss Army V7-10 Sub watches from the internet
The reason that I am writing about this curious watch is that I think the builder was rather ingenious. He started with a Swiss Army V7-10 Sub case and added the hands and dial from a Hunter Mach 1. One of those non-branded wavy dive straps finished off the transformation. I don’t think that those types of bands were ever used by Swiss Army. Note the offset crown at the 4:00 spot. It aligns with the date window on the V7-10 Sub, but not the date window on the Hunter Mach 1 dial.
An offset crown at the 4:00 position is signed with the Victorinox shield logo
I’m glad that the seller was transparent, and told us what watches he combined. There were no false claims that this watch was a new or rare type of Swiss Army Hunter watch. Instead, the seller recycled some parts to make a watch that looks like it could have existed in a Victorinox sales catalog… though it does not really fit the design language of the Hunter watches… especially the case shape.
A closeup of the borrowed Hunter Mach 1 dial in a V7-10 Sub case
The photo below shows what the Victorinox Swiss Army Hunter Mach 1 looks like. Its dial matches the eBay watch above except for the seconds hand is white, and not yellow. I have seen the yellow hands before online so I am unsure if slight variations occurred in production. In a way, the yellow hand matches the yellowed date wheel of the eBay watch.
An actual Victorinox Swiss Army Hunter Mach 1 dial with white seconds hand
An actual Victorinox Swiss Army Hunter Mach 1 on the integrated rubber watch band.
I considered buying this for a moment, but decided not to bid because the watch was not a real Swiss Army model. It seemed to be more of an experiment. I could not spend my money on it just to own it when I have my eye on so many other authentic watches. However, I can tip my hat to the seller who put together a very cool custom watch. I am sure the new owner will enjoy his or her one-of-a-kind creation. This sort of customization falls into a gray area, but I am okay with it if there is no deception. I won’t purchase replicas or counterfeits as a rule, but this one is something else… maybe creative horological recycling.
The posted pictures clearly show the case is from a Victorinox Swiss Army V7-10 Sub
It would appear to me that the eBay seller named RestoredWatches sells a lot of Seikos, which seem to be the de facto watches for tinkerers to modify. I would suspect that someone with experience changing hands, dials and bezels on one brand could easily apply that skill on another brand like Swiss Army.
If you did not know, it takes some planning to swap parts around between watches. Things get very technical on a micro-millimeter scale. Just because you want to add different hands to a watch does not meant that it will work. Just because you want to add a new dial does not mean that it will be easy. Some of these secrets are not common knowledge and are in the realm of watch “modders” and watchmakers. And, it is beyond the scope of this show-and-tell article. Maybe later I will revisit the subject.
Not a Swiss Army Hunter… per se
Even though I jokingly say that this watch might have been, it would not have been possible. The Hunter watches (Mach 1, 2 and 3) were all pilot watches in a barrel case so there is no way this creation would have fit into the Hunter family. Maybe the other Hunter models can just adopt this Frankenstein-watch” as their crazy cousin who might be more comfortable in the sea than the air.
UPDATE - December 2017
It appears that this Franken-watch is a bit of world traveler. After selling on eBay, it ended up on Catawiki, another auction site. There it sold for just $66… just $12 more than the eBay auction. Thankfully, a new NATO strap was fitted instead of the Seiko style rubber straps, and I think that is the better-looking choice. It was kind of cool seeing this watch again. I suppose this is how a biologist feels when he encounters an animal he tagged in the past. I hope Hunter-V7 modded watch finds a great home.
The unique modded watch from eBay got resold in December 2017
