What Makes the Zenith El Primero a Watch Legend?
The allure of the Zenith El Primero
My little journey of discovery started when I convinced myself that I would like to buy a chronograph watch. I was tempted by various models in the Omega, TAG Heuer and Breitling ranges but thought that I should at least take a look at the pre-owned market. That’s when I came across a Rolex Daytona (16523) described as having a modified version of the legendary Zenith El Primero movement and this piqued my curiosity.
I discovered that a great deal has been written about the Zenith El Primero chronograph and the more I read, the more I became fascinated by the amazing history of not only the El Primero movement but also the Zenith company itself. I certainly recommend taking the time to discover this remarkable story but, in the meantime, I hope this brief summary of my own research reasonably accurately reflects the tale of this famous watch movement.
The race for an automatic chronograph
It seems that in the early 1960’s there was a perceived appetite for an automatic chronograph watch and a number of major manufacturers were seeking to develop a movement, including Japan’s Grand Seiko and a consortium which included Swiss manufacturers Heuer and Breitling.
Respected Swiss watchmaker Zenith founded in 1865 were apparently planning to launch their automatic chronograph movement to celebrate their centenary but the challenge was proving more testing than had been anticipated.
A number of prototypes were produced by various makers but it was in January 1969, almost four years later than planned that Zenith announced the launch of the world’s first fully integrated, high-frequency, automatic chronograph movement and named it El Primero which in Spanish means “the first”.
The launch of the El Primero
The high frequency performance achieved 36,000 vibrations per hour which was much higher than the competitors had managed and the watch had a running second hand (another first for an automatic chronograph movement) and a calendar.
The Zenith El Primero chronograph was famously certified as accurate to 1/10th of a second.
All of these innovations were contained in a watch that was only 6.5mm thick.
The movement was so highly regarded that a number of other watchmakers used it in their chronograph offerings over the years. These include Movado, Parmigiani, Tag Heuer, Ebel, Tiffany, Hublot, Panerai and perhaps most notably, Rolex.
An advertisement first appeared in March 1969 and featured the model designated as the A384.
It is believed however that the A386 model pre-dated the A384 and it was the A386 that first introduced the now iconic three slightly overlapping and differently coloured subdials along with the Zenith Star logo.
I haven’t found many references of the time specifically promoting “Zenith El Primero 38mm”, but more recently Zenith has referred to the 38mm cases as ladies’ watches although the Zenith El Primero Revival range consists mainly of 37mm and 38mm watches in keeping with the sizes of the original watches.
The rise of quartz and Zenith’s resilience
The arrival of quartz watches posed a serious threat to the future of the Swiss watchmaking industry and a number of manufacturers including Zenith formed a consortium to develop a Swiss quartz movement in an attempt to rival the Japanese watchmakers Seiko and Citizen who were the market leaders.
The ensuing years saw mixed fortunes for Zenith and the events of the 1970’s, the changes of ownership and the amazing “undercover” activities of a few key members of the Zenith team are well documented and definitely worth a read.
The demand for mechanical watches increased in the early 1980’s but the key event enabling the production of the El Primero to re-commence was a ten-year contract to supply the movement to Rolex for the Daytona.
Zenith then sought to develop their own range. The Academy and Cosmopolitan model ranges were followed by the De Luca.
Joining the LVMH family
In the 1990’s came the Zenith El Primero ChronoMaster with a sapphire back making the movement visible for the first time. The advertising for this watch re-positioned Zenith and the historic success of the movements and the ability to manufacture to the highest standards in-house led to the company being acquired by the global luxury brands group LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy).
LVMH sought to take Zenith even further upmarket and the on-going research and development programme led to more world firsts. The Grande ChronoMaster XXT Tourbillon El Primero was the first high-frequency tourbillon. Then came the Grande ChronoMaster XXT Perpetual Calendar.
In 2010 Zenith launched the El Primero Striking 10th, the first automatic watch able to measure and display in tenths of a second.
Zenith were not however about to sit on their laurels and 2017 saw the arrival of the Zenith Defy El Primero 21 which with an incredible 360,000 vibrations per hour was able to measure and display at an almost unbelievable rate of one hundredth of a second.
Celebrating 50 years with the Revival range
In 2019, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of El Primero, Zenith introduced the El Primero Revival range where the company initially faithfully reproduced the original A386 and A384 models with other models being added to the line up subsequently.
It seems to me that the El Primero is widely considered by experts and enthusiasts alike to be one of the finest automatic chronographs to be massed produced. It appears in a great many on-line lists as a major feat in watchmaking history and the fact that it has not changed greatly over the years and is still used by not only Zenith but also other watchmakers (albeit that LVMH have now restricted supply to stablemates including Bvlgari, TAG Heuer and Hublot), is testimony to the incredible achievements in the past.
The Revival range might be aptly named as the brand does seem to be gathering traction in the highly congested luxury watch marketplace as demonstrated perhaps by the fact that another major high street jewellery retailer in the UK has recently announced that they will be selling the Zenith range.
Is the El Primero worth it?
As for me, will I buy one? Is this where my search for a chronograph ends?
Well, there are fewer examples available in the pre-owned market than perhaps, Omega, Breitling, TAG Heuer and of course, Rolex but reading about Zenith and in particular the El Primero has certainly added to the appeal for me personally.
I particularly like the Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Sport and as a regular swimmer, the rubber strap is an attractive option.
Bi-metal bracelets are however very popular at the moment and I think this is a great looking watch.
It must be said however that these watches are not inexpensive, but in buying an El Primero I can be confident that I am getting the most highly acclaimed automatic chronograph in the history of watchmaking.
