With the Sport, Zenith have re-used the classic blue, anthracite and light grey overlapping subdials of that original 1969 a386 El Primero chronograph. There have been many intermediate Zenith models in that time, however this latest Chronomaster Sport model is comfortingly familiar. It’s a long time since the El Primero debuted as the world’s first automatic chronograph back in early 1969. Movement: Zenith 3600 1/10th second chronograph.Today, the El Primero powers numerous vintage-inspired chronographs as well as the new Chronomaster Sport, a watch aimed as a competitor at - with much irony - the Daytona.Hands-OnZenith Chronomaster Sport (1/10th Second Chronograph) Ebel placed the first modern order for El Primero movements in 1984, but it was Rolex, who ordered thousands of calibers to power their new automatic Daytonas, that saved the firm. Then, in the 1980s after the company had changed hands once again, he led modern Zenith management to this secret cache of horological wonders, in which the El Primero tooling was hidden.
He told no one about what he was doing - not even his family. Employees were ordered to destroy or otherwise liquidate their mechanical watchmaking tooling, but incredibly, one daring engineer, Charles Vermot, decided to hide machinery behind a false wall that he built himself in the attic of the company’s manufacture in Le Locle. Zenith ceased using manually-wound movements in their chronographs after the introduction of the El Primero - however, then the Quartz Crisis of the 1970s hit, and the company was sold.
Zenith used the Caliber 146 as a basis for the caliber which the brand would dub "El Primero" - "the first." Of the consortium’s Caliber 11, Seiko’s reference 6139, and the El Primero, only the latter feature a “high-beat” movement for increased accuracy. This was a race between a team consisting of Hamilton, Heuer, Buren, Dubois-Depraz, and Breitling Seiko and Zenith. By the 1960s Zenith acquired ébauche manufacturer Martel and began using their movements exclusively, leading to lauded calibers such as the 146HP and 146DP, which launched in 1969.ġ969 was a banner year for horology, as it saw the launch of the first automatic chronograph movement. At first Zenith used Excelsior Park and Valjoux movements, sharing them with Universal Genève and Movado (with which Zenith would merge for a time in 1969). Zenith's chronographs in particular gained a reputation for excellence. Under the name Zenith, formally established in 1911, Favre-Jacot expanded his production to include wristwatches. By the turn of the 20th century, Favre-Jacot was producing marine chronometers and chronometer-grade movements, one of which won a chronometry competition in Neuchâtel in 1903. Georges Favre-Jacot began producing pocket watches in Le Locle at the age of twenty-two. Also included is the watch’s outer shipping box, white paper sleeve, inner and outer boxes, books, signed leather cardholder, flash drive and polishing cloth.ĭon’t spring for the same old chronograph everybody else has - check this beautiful watch out instead! 3600 movement, it’s in outstanding, lightly worn condition, and ready for adventure. This particular Chronomaster Sport features a 41mm stainless steel case, black ceramic 1/10th-second bezel, white glossy dial with tri-color chronograph layout, applied markers, 4:30 date, and Super-LumiNova-filled baton hands. When matched to its included steel Oyster-style bracelet, it does indeed provide a great alternative to the Daytona, which, these days, is all but impossible to purchase at retail. Powered by the brand’s famed El Primero automatic movement, it features a wildly cool 1/10th-second hand that spins around the corresponding timing bezel. However, this is no Rolex - it’s the (relatively) new Chronomaster Sport from Zenith. If this chronograph looks familiar to you, it might be because it resembles a certain famed watch from another brand. From the Greek khrónos (“time”) and gráphō (“to write”), a chronograph is a watch that has the ability to record time, generally via the addition of small sub-counters that register minutes and hours. There is perhaps no more versatile complication than the chronograph.įrom race cars to rocket ships, boats to battlefields, you are likely to find a chronograph being employed to measure a plethora of tasks and times.