Allen

A big thanks to all the folks who offered help! Underscores how special this collector community is.

Great piece! You\'ve inspired me to share my sister to your watch.

The hands are correctly aligned in the photo. The bottom split hand has a wider bottom than the top one. The top one aligns on the midline and the bottom one is slightly wider on both sides at the bottom. Both then rapidly taper to same width on the...

Wonderful watch, Ilja!  I also own a "white 12" Mark 11.  If I could only find a 17mm NATO I would be in heaven! 

A quick update for everyone -- both watches are in the hands of a terrific local watchmaker to service (based on everyone's advice here). I also noted both movement numbers and case reference numbers. I was able to locate my the gents piece on their...

Gatorcpa - you helped me immensely! I am looking fwd to seeing my watchmaker next week to get the reference numbers and begin service.

Abe - I had my 3970 done recently. They can do 3970s (and I would assume 5970s since the have the same movement) at Henri Stern in NY without having to send to Geneva. Mine took 3 or 4 weeks to get an estimate and then 12 weeks once I approved the...

...specific Patek strap lengths for deployants vs tangs...the total length added across both strap sides is the same...the balance of how much is on the short vs long side is the only thing that varies...that said, it is a subtle not a major...

Thanks for the responses folks. Here is the best picture I could get. I believe it says "Eclad" with the cursive "E" connected to the "d" but perhaps it is something else. The "clad" makes me thing it has something to do with the fact it is gold...