The Immortals – The Zenith El Primero is the near-ideal chrono (for my tastes, anyway)

D.C. Hannay

Editor’s note: The Immortals is a new series that delves into a watch that we believe deserves recognition as a bona fide modern classic. You’ll already be familiar with most of the watches, we imagine. But DC will delve a bit deeper into these timepieces to explain why they’ve quickly established themselves in the horological canon. Today, it’s the Zenith El Primero.

El Primero. The first. And although not quite technically the first automatic chronograph movement, Zenith’s El Primero was still a towering achievement in the horological world. So much so that modern versions of this same high frequency calibre are still produced to this day, still considered contemporary, and still the foundation for some of Zenith’s most bleeding-edge innovations.

The year 1969 was a watershed year for the chronograph watch. With the Quartz Crisis knocking on the door of the Swiss watch industry, that year saw the introduction of the automatic chronograph movement, with Zenith’s El Primero, Seiko’s 6139, and the Calibre 11 (a joint project with Heuer, Hamilton/Buren, Dubois-Depraz, and Breitling) all making their debuts. Chronos to that point had all been handwinders, but the market was calling for an automatic. Zenith had been working on the project since 1965 and announced their new calibre first, but Seiko was actually the first to introduce theirs.

Regardless, Zenith’s new watch, the A386, was not only a technical triumph, but objectively one of the most stunning chronograph watches from any era. The 38mm case was supremely comfortable on most any wrist, and the now-iconic tri-colour chronograph registers are a Zenith hallmark. Sadly, this beautiful piece of watchmaking’s legacy was almost lost to the dustbin of history.

Due to declining fortunes and the takeover of the company by the Zenith Television corporation (yes, the TV manufacturer famous for their giant wooden consoles) in the ‘70s, the decision was made to stop production of the El Primero movement and concentrate solely on quartz watches. This sad bit of misguided synergy could have ended the lineage for good, were it not for some quick thinking by one of Zenith’s watchmakers. The company was cleaning house, destroying all manner of Zenith’s history by tossing tools, components, technical drawings, and other records, but thankfully, much of it was rescued by Charles Vermot, who worked on the original El Primero project. Vermot hid the very history of the brand in a walled-off section of Zenith’s headquarters. Good thing, too, because all that history was utilised when Zenith revived the El Primero in the ‘80s. The movement is so revered, that other brands regularly used the El Primero calibre in their own watches, including Rolex’s Daytona. High praise, indeed. In fact, the movement may have saved the entire brand.

Which brings us to today. Zenith is once again one of the most respected and successful Swiss maisons, manufacturing both futuristic and delightfully retro timepieces, including the Chronomaster Original, the spitting image of the original A386. And with a return to acceptance of vintage-sized pieces, the Chronomaster Original now features waiting lists! All kidding aside, the new 38mm beauty is available in its original tri-toned colourway, cased in steel or rose gold, as well as special editions including a sick reverse panda model, an all-blue Boutique Edition, and one called the E-Commerce Edition that colour-matches the grey, charcoal, and navy sub-registers to the 1/10 second track.

And then there’s the new trick of the remade, remodelled Chronomaster Original: An El Primero movement that measures in 1/10 second increments. The Calibre 3600 beats at a rate of 36,000 VpH, and let me tell you, there are few chronos as entertaining to watch, with the possible exception of Zenith’s own Defy series with the El Primero 21 movement. That bad boy laps the dial once every second, measuring down to 1/100ths in blistering fashion.

Call me a hopeless luddite, but Zenith has recreated in the Chronomaster Original what I consider the near-ideal chrono (for my tastes, anyway). The size is perfect on my wrist, and its vintage beauty is much more appealing than most modern jumbo-sized chronographs, including the Rolex Daytona in its current form. The three-link bracelet is sublime, if not quite the correct ladder-style of the original. But it’s all about those tri-coloured subdials. Recognisable from across a room, it’s the icing on this most perfectly retro slice of cake. You gotta respect the classics.