ZENITH EL PRIMERO HW

This is actually my 1st Swiss watch that comes with an in-house movement. And a legendary one at that!

The Zenith El Primero HW (HW = Hand Wound)

I am a big fan of the Zenith brand :-)

Yes I am. Even without knowing the history of the brand, I already liked the brand. Why? The name maybe? Simple reason right?

And boy am I glad.

This is actually an entry level model for the El Primero Class Sport line. The asking price is actually very fair considering the watch is made by a full fledged "Manufacture" with a rich history and powered by their very own El Primero movement.

This movement itself is legendary.

Born on the year 1969, almost forgotten and the tooling almost destroyed amidst the quartz crisis... we all have Charles Vermont to thank that this movement lives on for he actually saved the tooling and equipment for making the movements when the higher power actually asks for the tooling and equipment to be sold as scrap.

Needless to say, the rest is history.

The movement received even more attention when Rolex needed a movement to power their Daytona Chronographs, they look for the best they could find at that time... which is the El Primero caliber 400. The exact one that you see here but with the automatic winding mechanism intact. (Rolex did their own modifications to the base movement)

This is a robust, time tested movement.

As expected with an entry level piece, the movement is not finished with anything fancy. But with the winding rotor omitted, it does show the movement in all it's glory.

The beauty of this movement is that it oscillates at a rate of 36000 beats per hour / bph or vibrations per hour / vph.

That's 10 ticks a second. Most chronographs or even simple time only movements tick at 28800 vph at most.

So this is considered a ground breaking achievement... even today.

This means that when the chronograph is activated, one can actually notice the central seconds hand sweep more smoothly than it's slower counterparts.

Watch originally came with a stainless steel bracelet.

But since it's a thin dressy watch, I started my hunt for a proper crocodile strap and a Zenith signed deployant.

I did eventually found what I want and a word of caution, these accessories do not come cheap.

Strap alone being genuine crocodile is around usd200, the deployant alone costs usd380.... ouch!!

I think the watch looks better on a crocodile strap.

Suitable for dressy dinners and events.

Understated, legendary and superbly made.

I enjoyed the hell out of this watch before it went to a new owner while I need the funding on a new Zenith.

Out of all the watches that have left me, this is among those that I miss the most. Did I mention I am a huge Zenith fan? :-)

No matter how the landscape of my collection changed, there's always a Zenith there.

This is the watch that introduced me to the world of finer Swiss watches. What it means being a manufacture, the value of history and a brand's commitment to tradition.

That is why until today, a Zenith watch will always be an integral part in my collection.