Zenith knock it out the park again to celebrate a very important 50th birthday...
To further celebrate 50 years of the incredibly important El Primero, Zenith continues their successful year with another anniversary edition...and this time it's not limited.
This uniquely designed watch for 1969 naturally housed the first automatic chronograph movement which had four important features:
- A high frequency of 36’000 vph
- A column-wheel chronograph mechanism
- Automatic winding with 50 hours of power reserve
The New Zenith El Primero A384 Revival: Special 50th Anniversary Edition - Image Credit: Zenith Watches
These are all impressive stats now, let alone 50 years ago.
Full stat break down
- Original 1969 case design
- 37mm width
- 12.6mm thick
- Stainless steel case
- White-lacquered dial with black-coloured counters
- Domed sapphire crystal
- Sapphire crystal caseback
- El Primero 400 automatic movement
- 36,000 VpH
- 50 hours of power reserve
- Non-limited edition
First thoughts
The New Zenith El Primero A384 Revival: Special 50th Anniversary Edition - Image Credit: Zenith Watches
Well then, Zenith kept this quiet, didn’t they?
This looks like a brilliant re-issue of such an important watch and movement for the whole industry. Of course, panda dials are always an attractive sight and the modernised additions and materials Zenith have introduced here look to complement and build on the design.
And the dimensions. Thankfully Zenith remains true to the original and has kept the watch under 40mm at 37mm. With the thickness at 12.6mm, a domed sapphire and the square nature of the watch I’d be very surprised if this didn’t wear very well on the wrist.
I’m pleased to see Zenith have avoided going down the limited edition approach with this one as it really opens the piece up to a much wider market.
Stay tuned for hopefully a detailed look on the piece soon…
