I want one of those fantastic bronze watches, but I can't find a dealer within a thousand miles. And there aren't too many around - guess they all are going to our pals in Singapore.
So on an off-chance that someone might have tired of his already, I hit the auction sites and other watch dealers. No luck, until I stumbled across a watch up in the Rocky Mountains.

It was an old watch, but it did claim to be a bronze Gerald Genta Gefica Safari. In perfect (auction) condition.
After an agonizing 10 days of negotiating, paying, and waiting for the Pony Express delivery, it arrived today.

And immediately went into the surgery!

One small problem - it was missing the 11 marker. No wait - it was in the date aperture. Those ponies must be awfully rough!

OK, not such a big probem. Open it up - but that took some serious thinking and a few holders.
Unscrew the front bezel, gawk at the weirdly disfigured/textured dial surface, and fetch out the little bugger.
Now it was simply (repeat after me) "Put the candle back"

Thought I better have a look at the backside too. Nothing special - unadjusted 7750 with 17 jewels.

Big rubber gaskets sandwiching everything together. Not too much dirt and grime; mind you it was described as "perfect".
Notice the Cartier Pasha-like notched strap - but no the dimensions are wrong.
It's a 5 mm wide and 4 mm deep notch; and I need each side to be 75 mm -- in case someone has a spare?

Everything is signed - case, back, deployant, strap, even the little brass bars on the outside of the deployant say Gerald Genta Gefica.

The dial is metal and the weird texture appears intentional.

Here are a few more beauty shots at the cusp of sundown.

Notice the patina and texture of the case

The hands are surprisingly easy to see in various levels of light.

In summary - it's much smaller than the new Gefica at 37 x 13 mm vs 46.5 x 17.
No special complications either, simply day, date and chrono driven by a plain vanilla 7750.
But it has a large dose of charm - quirky styling, bronzy patina, funky matching notched crown and pushers, great visibility.
Might get me through the waiting period!
Now about that strap...

The cat likes it!

And my wife likes it too - enough to be an arm-model.
But now it's time for supper and a celebratory bottle. Cheers!

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