Zenith x Revolution & The Rake strike back with an “Airweight” titanium take on the wildly popular “Cover Girl”

Zach Blass

Zenith has been on a real hot-streak as of late, coming in strong for LVMH Watch Week with some very intriguing pieces such as the Defy Revival A3642, Defy Skyline collection, and Defy 21 Chroma among others. Whether heritage revivals, or next-generation collections, Zenith with each design continues to attract today’s buyers with their creations. While it is clear Zenith knows how to drum up their own designs, they also are wonderful with collaborations – as we know very well with our own Defy Classic Skeleton “Night Surfer” Time+Tide Edition. Our friends at Revolution & The Rake are also familiar with teaming up with Zenith, two years ago dropping a limited-edition revival of the legendary El Primero “Cover Girl”. They say lighting never strikes twice, but Zenith and Revolution x The Rake today prove otherwise, with what I believe will electrify the watch collecting community: a new titanium take on the “Cover Girl” as a belated 50th anniversary celebration of the model. Without further ado, I introduce to you the Zenith x Revolution & The Rake Chronomaster Revival A3818 “The Airweight Cover Girl” – a limited edition of 250 pieces.

For those unfamiliar with the “Cover Girl” lore, the watch earned its moniker due to its feature on the cover of Manfred Rössler’s book Zenith: Swiss Watch Manufacture Since 1865. The “Cover Girl” is considered to be one of the rarest and most desirable iterations of the El Primero, with allegedly less than 1000 pieces ever made.

As Zenith is known to do, much of the new Zenith x Revolution & The Rake Chronomaster Revival A3818 “The Airweight Cover Girl” remains faithful to the original design like the 2020 revival. But of course this time around a modern material makeover has been executed, fashioning the chronograph in lightweight titanium to bring this classic reference into the future. The 50 metre water-resistant case carries classic and compact dimensions, coming in at 37mm diameter, 12.5mm in thickness, and 47mm lug-to-lug across the wrist.

Considering a revival in steel was realised only a few years ago, Zenith x Revolution & The Rake decided to introduce some subtle tweaks to further distinguish this new edition from the near identical 2020 revival as well as the original. Since grade 5 titanium is the most suited grade of titanium to carry a mirror-polished finish, they decided to utilise more polished surfaces as a visual indicator the watch is made of titanium. Previously only the edge of the case and its lugs were polished, with the case flanks richly brushed like the top of the case. For the Zenith x Revolution & The Rake Chronomaster Revival A3818 “The Airweight Cover Girl”, however, the case flanks have been mirror polished. This subtle new element ties in to a new tweak to the ladder bracelet’s execution – but more on that later.

Its dial also visually distinguishes itself from the 2020 revival, with an ever-so brighter and more vibrant take on the “superman blue” brushed dial that utilises crisp white luminous material throughout in favour of the faux-aged coloured SuperLuminova® indices utilised previously. That being said many faithful elements remain, including the bi-coloured chronograph registers, “shark tooth” minutes track, 4:30 date window in black on white, red central seconds hand, and the use of the classic fonts for the dial text and numerals.

The Zenith x Revolution & The Rake Chronomaster Revival A3818 “The Airweight Cover Girl” also maintains the ample legibility in darkness found on the previous “Cover Girl” revival, with every hand, hour index, as well as all the dial text and numerals coated in luminous material. It is a practical visual spectacle that is both aesthetically pleasing and useful in darkness. In fact the luminosity is so bright you can even catch its faint glow in daytime as well.

Remember when I mentioned the grade 5 titanium, its ability to be well mirror-polished, and the increased surfaces therefore rendered in the finish? Well yet another visual indicator that distinguishes the Zenith x Revolution & The Rake Chronomaster Revival A3818 “The Airweight Cover Girl” is its Gay Fréres-inspired ladder bracelet, which has been manufactured for the first time ever in grade 5 titanium. The ladder bracelet is usually fully brushed on its top surfaces, but here surface contrast and light play is introduced through polished centre links. It adds a bit more elegance to the design, as well as prevents the release from stepping on the toes of the 2020 revival as well as the original rare and coveted 1971 design.

If you want to introduce a more modern casual vibe to your Zenith x Revolution & The Rake Chronomaster Revival A3818 “The Airweight Cover Girl” watch, you can get it through its bundled blue rubber strap with a Cordura effect to its upper. Based on the supplied assets, it appears the rubber strap is slightly darker than the dial – perhaps more in line with the darker Superman blue shade found on the previous models. Nonetheless, it still works great with this new piece.

Fortunately, on the caseback side of the watch, you can see the in-house automatic El Primero 400 column-wheel chronograph caliber within beneath a sapphire crystal. The calibre decoration is comprised of circularly grained and satined components, with striping only introduced on the nicely chamfered and openworked star-motif rotor. A 5 Hz calibre, this 36,000 vph hi-beat movement affords the watch 50 hours of power reserve of the wrist when fully wound.

Zenith x Revolution & The Rake Chronomaster Revival A3818 “The Airweight Cover Girl” pricing and availability:

The Zenith x Revolution & The Rake Chronomaster Revival A3818 “The Airweight Cover Girl”, a limited edition of 250 pcs., is available now for purchase exclusively via the Revolution Shop. Price: CHF 9,900

Model:	Chromomaster Revival A3818
Limitation:	250
Function:	Hours and minutes in the centre, small seconds at 9′, central chronograph hand, 12-hour counter at 6′, 30-minute counter at 3′, tachymetric & pulsometric scale, and date indication at 4:30
Material:	Titanium
Dimension:	37mm
Dial:	Blue satin-brushed dial
Case:	Titanium
Movement:	El Primero 400 Automatic
Water Resistance:	50 meters
Straps:	Polished and satined titanium ladder bracelet and blue “Cordura effect” rubber strap included with pin buckle