ZENITH EL PRIMERO STRIKING 10TH

Yes... this watch is a long time coming...
3 years in the making to be exact...
When this watch was announced back in 2010, I was ecstatic because it signify the rebirth of Zenith as a brand.
Helmed by Mr.Jean Frederic Dufour, Zenith slowly regained back it's groove so to speak.

For me, Zenith will always be a watch with the iconic tri colour dial.
Before this, there was a year 2009 release of the 40th Anniversary Zenith New Vintage 1969 with the tri colour dial but unfortunately, I am not feeling the angled tonneau case.
So when the Striking 10th was released on 2011, I was happy... But I held back.
I waited and see if there will be a sportier version at 42mm or a smaller dressier one at 40mm...
The sportier guise did come, but in a bigger cased Stratos which I find difficult to handle.
Felix Baumgartner certainly has no problem wearing it on his record breaking stratosphere jump.
Then came the historically accurate 38mm El Primero 36k vph.
Just too small for me in this day and age...
A year later, Zenith released the 42mm tri colour in the 36k vph collection.
Essentially the same watch as the Striking 10th but without the Striking 10th complication.
Then I waited again.
Quickly came El Primero Lightweight at 45mm... sigh...

After a full 3 years, instead of looking forward, I looked backwards and the Striking 10th sort of became more desirable.

And sure enough... I took the plunge.

1st off, I prefer my watch to be a little sporty.
Sporty dress or dressy sports, take your pick.
Which is why I immediately mounted a tougher looking strap on it.
Will talk about the OEM strap a little later on.
This is it... The Zenith El Primero Striking 10th.
Limited to 1969 pieces.
Ref: 03.2041.4052/69.c496

I am absolutely loving the iconic tri colour dial.
A combination of champagne, blue and grey subdials does wonders in today monochromatic watch designs.
Nothing like a little colour to spice things up without looking cheesy.
And of course, being iconic, this look is forever associated with Zenith and Zenith only.
I know some people are annoyed by the overlapping subdials.
Believe me, for this model... it doesn't matter.
Will explain why in awhile.

The outer rim of the subdials are finished by circular brushing while the inner circle is finished by engine turning.
Printing on the numbers and markers are crisp and clear.

The dial is silver sunburst.
Sometimes not so evident in pictures and also depending on lighting.
The El Primero font is no longer the elegant cursive font but just a regular blocky alphabets.
Love the applied Star and also the "1/10 of a second" in red.

Look at the 3 subdials.
Ain't them just awesome?
The minute totalizer subdial (grey) is overlapping both the running seconds subdial (champagne) and seconds totalizer subdial (blue)
The red central sweeping chronograph seconds hands makes one round in 10 seconds... this is a foudroyante complication.
Due to the fact that the El Primero movement is beating at 36,000 beats per hour (10 beats per second) it can accurately measure timing to a tenth of a second.
The outer rehaut of the dial is thus printed with the necessary markings to measure accuracy to the tenth of a second.

So, with one revolution of the central chronograph hands, the hands on the blue subdial will point at 10.
On the 2nd revolution, the hands on the blue subdial will point to the marker in between 10 and 30.
Following so far?

For the above picture, I have deliberately stopped the chronograph when the hands at the blue subdial have reach a position that is actually impossible to gauge the elapsed seconds.... but it is actually not needed, as the red central sweeping hands have already stopped at 3.5 seconds, and the only thing you have to measure is if the hands on the blue subdial have stopped BEYOND or BEFORE the halfway point between the 30 and 50 seconds marker, in this case, it is beyond the halfway point (above 40 seconds), which can only mean that the total elapsed seconds at 43.5 seconds (3.5 second reading from the red central seconds hand)
Easy... I hope you guys get what I mean... :-)
Since the minute totalizer is the dominant subdial with no overlapping, it's measurement is not hindered one bit.
Cool right?

Watch case measures 42mm.
The side profile of the case and the cut off lugs is historically accurate like the Zenith A386 of old... only upsized.
The sloping lugs does make the watch easier to wear than the size suggests.
Thickness is at 12.75mm as per Zenith spec sheet.
Sapphire crystal is raised and domed.

With the right strap, the shape just hugs the wrists snuggly.
The thin caseback helps in this regard.

Angled lugs or chamfered lugs, all the rage now.
Nicely done.

Crown is sized just enough for ease of use.
It's a non screwed down and signed with a five pointed star.
I would have liked it if it's just slightly bigger and a screwdown crown to increase the water resistance rating higher than the 100m.
Chronograph pushers are piston shaped and again, I would have liked it if it's slightly bigger.
That's just my preference though.

Movement powering this watch is the El Primero Caliber 4052.
Rotor is partly skeletonized and finishings like perlage on the bridges and geneva stripes on the rotor does make it look nicer.

Most people will tell you that the beauty of the El Primero movement is not in it's finishings, but the architecture.
And I can't agree more.
Wish that the column wheel on the right is blued to show some contrasts.
Due to the extra friction needed for the operation of the foudroyante, a double wheel is made with silicon.
That little blue (or is it purple) is certainly welcomed... and being relevant and practical in it's application is a plus.

The strap that came with the watch is this black alligator strap.
It originally came with a pin buckle and I switch it to this Zenith deployant that I have.

The strap is well made and my only gripe with it is that it is on the thin side.
About 3mm thick tappering even thinner going to the buckle and tail.
With that kind of thickness, the watch sort of felt like "head heavy"
I would wear the watch on this strap if I am attending a dinner and needing something more "dressier" but at the moment, I am wearing the watch on a daily basis so this strap just doesn't cut out for it.

I do appreciate that the back of the strap is rubber lined though.
It should last longer.
Lug measurement are also at a very odd 21mm, which means that ready made straps are not that widely available.

Because this is a long lusted piece, I have been wearing this for the past week... only this... all my other watches have taken a back seat and went into cold storage.
Personally, I think this is a great piece to have.
I initial dislike of the 42mm case size looks to be unfounded.
It fits really well on my 6.75inch wrist.
Even with the little gripes that I have with it, this overall package is still a win in my book.