![]() ![]() ![]() Supporting these features is the El Primero 410 automatic chronograph movement with 31 jewels, 390 components and a power reserve of 50 hours. The 410 LE is a great looking reference to Zenith’s heritage and I think they’ve selected an excellent design that blends the sporty El Primero chronograph aesthetic with a traditional feature set like the full calendar and moon phase. The dial is finished with a red chrono seconds hand that trades the lume block of the vintage piece for a Zenith star counterbalance that is more in keeping with their current designs. The layout is nearly identical to the legacy model, even down to the star emblems placed next to the calendar displays. Joining the calendar, a moon phase display is incorporated into the six o’clock (12 hour) chronograph sub dial. There is a date display between four and five, as well as day and month apertures above the sub dials at three and nine. The dial remains a slate grey, with updated hour markers and a cleaner use of dial text. On this modern version, the sub dials appear a bit smaller, but that could be attributed to the larger dial. Sporting a couple of updates, the new El Primero sticks with the vintage formula and offers an homage to a hard-to-find and rather desirable piece from Zenith’s past.īased around a 42mm case, the El Primero 410 is a textbook nod to a successful design from the early 70’s. You can see an example here, said to be 1 of 25, sold by Christie’s in 2012. The 410 is based on a very rare vintage El Primero model from the 70’s that looked almost identical, save for the original model’s smaller 38mm case. More details at on the heels of the incredibly cool El Primero Lightweight, Zenith has launched another limited edition El Primero, dubbed the 410 LE. 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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