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New Vintage 1969 “Only Watch (pièce unique)”: An historic revival

El Primero, a world-renowned symbol of excellence, is the first integrated column-wheel automatic chronograph movement capable of measuring short periods of time with one tenth of a second accuracy. Developed in 1969, the El Primero 400 – “The first one” – vividly illustrates Zenith’s creative genius and subtlety as a movement manufacturer (or “Manufacture” in official Swiss watchmaking terminology) and it soon became a benchmark within the watch industry. Almost academic in design and pared down to essentials, El Primero is a masterpiece of innovation.

This year is the 40th anniversary of this legendary movement and Zenith decided to launch a New Vintage edition to mark this significant milestone. “We have introduced a new model with the same design as the historical watch, but with a more contemporary visual and technical touch,” says Jean-Frédéric Dufour, CEO of Zenith. “We have kept the essence of the original watch but we have made it more modern and slightly larger.”

The special limited edition New Vintage 1969 anniversary collection consists of 250 watches in gold, 250 in titanium, and 500 in steel. “We managed to find the original supplier and tooling of the dial and the hands, which was amazing 40 years after the movement was made. We changed the color slightly but the hands are virtually the same,” says Jean-Frédéric Dufour.

For Only Watch 2009, Zenith decided to make a special unique version of this famous original model created in 1969, featuring a colorful retro- style dial with chronograph counters. The sapphire crystal on the back bears the special El Primero anniversary logo, along with the “Only Watch (pièce unique)” inscription.

The El Primero movement has special significance for Zenith: 40 years after its 1969 launch, it is still the most precise integrated mechanical automatic chronograph movement in the watch industry, due to the fact that it oscillates at 36,000 vibrations per hour (as opposed to most fast movements, which beat at 28,800 vph). This high frequency enables the watch to measure one tenth of a second – the faster the oscillation, the more accurate the timekeeping.

The power reserve is minimum 50 hours, “So you can leave it on your night stand over the weekend and it will still be functioning accurately for you to wear it on Monday,” says Jean-Frédéric Dufour with a smile.

Since Zenith was founded in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot, the brand has consistently viewed movements as the beating heart of the watchmaking industry and as the very essence of its own roots and heritage. “We have always produced our movements entirely in-house and our El Primero movement is our most famous one. Moreover, all Zenith watches are exclusively equipped with Zenith movements,” confirms Jean-Frédéric Dufour.

It was even on the El Primero movement that the legendary Rolex Daytona built its reputation. Zenith is every inch an authentic Manufacture, even producing many of the tools necessary to make its own movements. As Jean-Frédéric Dufour points out, “Zenith today is one of the few of the high-end watchmaking brands that does not outsource anything in terms of movements or designs, instead producing its watches entirely in-house.”

One of the most important things to remember in evoking the history of El Primero is that in the 1970s, the situation in the watch industry was quite desperate due to the spectacular development and popularity of the quartz movement.

Given the changes that were taking place in the watch industry and the belief that traditional watchmaking was dead, the American owners of the firm, then known as Zenith Electronics, decided to destroy everything that remained of Zenith’s past, including the tools, drawings and documents.

Watchmaker Charly Vermot was so upset by this that he decided to hide all the elements for the mechanical El Primero movement and its production tools. Years later, when mechanical movements were again of interest to consumers and Zenith wanted to remake its famous El Primero movement, Mr. Vermot was most fortunately able to supply the brand with all the elements he had so carefully hidden away all those years.

Without this fortunate twist of fate, Zenith would have completely vanished from the watchmaking map – and therein lies the fascinating secret of Zenith’s remarkable history.

 

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For more information contact:
Ita McCobb
Patrizzi & Co Auctioneers SA
Tel +41 22 318 28 38
e-mail i.mccobb@patrizziauction.com

Audrey Baylac
Association Monégasque contre les Myopathies / Monaco Yacht Show
Tel +377 93 10 41 70
e-mail audrey@monacoyachtshow.mc