![]() ![]() My fourth El Primero, one more class model, was acquired from a dear friend, and I really enjoyed it until I got an offer, during a trade, that I could not refuse and … it’s gone to another friend that enjoys this watch much more than I did. ![]() My third Zenith, another class model, got some wrist time (I loved the overall lines) but it was also part of the robbery. My second El Primero, a class model around the same time that I had the Rainbow, had green numbers that didn’t match the hands patina and this disturbs me a lot. It ended during a house robbery and it’s gone. This Rainbow was a nice watch and, if one day another (with a black bezel) shows up, for sure, I will consider an acquisition. Today I believe that it was the bracelet (I didn't know how to remove - not a trivial task) or the colorful bezel that had some resemblance with a diver watch. I liked the watch but on every rotation, after few minutes of wrist I always decided to swap it for another one. My first Zenith, a Rainbow model, was some sort of a “keeper” but it got quite a few days on my wrist. Since that time, I had few Zenith watches but they never entered the “true keeper” category, for one reason or another. Google “The Zenith Chronograph” “Walt Odets” and enjoy the wonderful two part article. Many articles had been written about this chronograph movement that was designed during the 60’s and disputes to be the first automatic chronograph movement.įor an outstanding and deep Zenith 410 movement review check the one made by Walt Odets. After this introduction, I did some homework and it was easy to be converted on a fan of the El Primero. More details at have a long relationship with Zenith El Primero chronographs.īack in 2005, a friend introduced me to the Zenith brand. Limited to 50 pieces exclusively for members of the Collective club, the watch has a retail price of USD 6,850. The last detail to set this watch apart from the crowd is the tough and long-lasting Cordura fabric strap “to provide the watch with a more industrial feel” and underline the tool watch aesthetic pursued in this collaboration. Although you can’t see it in the pictures provided, the case back will feature an XX/50 and C.01 engraving. ![]() Underneath the sapphire crystal on the reverse side is an El Primero 4601 automatic column-wheel chronograph movement running at 36,000vph/5Hz with a robust power reserve of 50 hours. Incidentally, the C.01 in the name of the watch indicates that it is the launch piece for Collective members. Like the hour and minute hands, the chronograph hand is also rhodium-plated to blend into the soothing colour scheme. The applied and facetted hour markers and hands are familiar, but the lume (Super-LumiNova C1) on the tips of the markers and down the hands glows a cool shade of blue in the dark. According to the brand, this decision was taken in the name of balance. All the printing on the dial is also picked out in grey and for those of you who have a phobia to date windows, this too has been suppressed. The dial features a matte white background with subtle light-grey accents on the minute track and sub-dials. Gone are the colourful sub-dials and red central chronograph hand and instead, the watch presents an almost monochrome appearance. The real customisation tweaks though have to do with the dial. The case, with a height of 12.45mm, features the familiar alternating polished and satin-brushed surfaces of other El Primero watches but has bespoke satin-brushed pushers to match the lugs. The Collective club has gone for the smaller 38mm steel case as opposed to the 42mm – selecting the same case size as the original 1969 model. What’s different about the Chronomaster El Primero C.01? As fans of Zenith’s El Primero, which incidentally celebrates its 50 th anniversary this year, the founders decided to kick off their members-only club with 50 customised watches of Chronomaster El Primero. Obviously the collector’s club founders – Gabe Reilly and Asher Rapkin – spotted a niche in this high-tech oasis for good old mechanical watches and created the club Collective. With such a high concentration of IT companies and the looming presence of Apple, it would be fair to deduce that most techie guys in Silicon Valley stick to techie gadgets when it comes to wrist wear. A collector’s club based in Silicon Valley is the latest recipient of a customised Zenith watch for its members. It’s becoming more and more frequent for watch brands to create special, exclusive editions for bona fide collectors.
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