- 4/4/09
- 2,140
- 92
- 48
A friend of mine lent me this watch over the weekend, as I will be writing about it as part of an article. On a whim, I posted a wrist-shot last night and, boy, was the response positive. Bowing to popular request, here is my quickie review of this beautiful Zenith...
How tough has life been for Zenith since 1969? The El Primero is probably the most famous movement in watch history, yet Zenith has struggled to establish its own identity:
"I finally bought the watch of my dreams. Check out my new Zenith."
"You mean like my VCR?"
In fact, Zenith Radio Company of Illinois actually bought a controlling share of the Mondia-Zenith-Movado holding company in 1971, which almost killed the El Primero at the tender age of six. Like comically stereotypical movie villains, the bean counters at Zenith USA decreed that its eponymous watch company should henceforth produce only quartz watches, and ordered the destruction of all production equipment for mechanical movements. Horrors!
Enter plucky Swiss watchmaker Charles Vermot, who defied the wishes of the barbaric Americans, carefully hiding the tooling and machinery in the attic like, er... (Historical analogy dropped to avoid causing offence.) End result: Zenith's nefarious plans were foiled, and Zenith was saved! The El Primero was resurrected in the mid-80s, just in time for it to reach global superstardom... inside a Rolex. There would be no breakout watch for Zenith, but at least its reputation (and financial security) was cemented by being the engine supplier for the 16500-series Daytona.
Fast-forward to the year 2000, Zenith's acquisition by LVMH, and the installation of the abominable Thierry Nataf as CEO the following year. (Historical analogy dropped to avoid causing offence.) Zenith was in for a rough decade, which yielded obscenities like the Defy Xtreme. The silver lining to this brown cloud was that the Zenith brand was mainstreamed like during no other time in its history, mostly thanks to [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Zenith-96-0529-4035-Tourbillon-Titanium-Chronograph/dp/B001K3IXW8/ref=pd_sbs_watch_2"]Amazon.com: Zenith Men's 96.0529.4035/51.M Defy Xtreme Tourbillon Titanium Chronograph Watch: Zenith: Watches@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KWU%2BEaHpL.@@AMEPARAM@@51KWU%2BEaHpL[/ame]. Is there no such thing as bad publicity? Let me give Charlie Sheen a call, and see how he's doing...
What a relief it was when the Dufour regime took over in 2010, and its first act was to airbrush the Nataf years out of its corporate memory. Glam Rock and Zero-G, say hello to Trotsky and Yezhov. Zenith's signature watch for the year was the El Primero Striking 10th, best known for a sweep hand that zips around the dial in 10 seconds and demonstrating just what 36,000 bph can do for you. The movement was new, but the design was not. Although bigger at 42mm, the case and dial design -particularly the overlapping silver, black, and blue subdials- recalled the 1969 El Primero.
2011's Zenith catalog featured even closer homages to the original El Primeros. ("Original El Primeros" is not only redundant, but an oxymoron, too!) The hexagonal "Vintage 1969" remixed the chunky A384 El Primero, also of 1969. This particular watch, the El Primero 36'000VPH, is the closest homage to the classically styled reference A386. It may not have the trick chronograph of the Striking Tenth, but it still beats 10 times per second. Obviously. And at 38mm, it takes a couple of glances for it to register as a new watch.
The '69 El Primero has long been one of my dream watches, so this 2011 model is right up my alley. I love vintage watches in general, but especially appreciate the designs of the 60s and 70s. In fact, there are a couple of details that I wish Zenith had carried over onto this watch. The first is the louche "El Primero" script—shorthand for “luxuryâ€, and so evocative of the era of "soft Correenthean leatherr". In its place is a blocky, sans serif font. So cold.
I also don't like the changes made to the subdials. I prefer the big, flat LPs of the original to the contours of the new registers. And on a functional level, why make the silver hour counter the most prominent of the three circles? Put it behind the minute counter and running seconds, where it belongs! I should also note that one friend really had a problem with the star-tailed sweep hand, because it reminded him too much of Tinkerbell's wand. I told him to grow the F up.
Minor nits aside, it's very hard to complain about anything on this watch. Just look at it! I would love to own one, but would much prefer finding a '69 El Primero in good condition. Perversely, the originals are cheaper than the reissues, which is also true for blue Heuer Monacos, and most examples of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. I'd better start selling my fluids again.
Are two movement shots really necessary? C'mahn, don't bolshet me.
Some quickie review that turned out to be. It looks like I've already finished a large chunk of that article I'm going to write. Thanks for looking, and reading.
How tough has life been for Zenith since 1969? The El Primero is probably the most famous movement in watch history, yet Zenith has struggled to establish its own identity:
"I finally bought the watch of my dreams. Check out my new Zenith."
"You mean like my VCR?"
In fact, Zenith Radio Company of Illinois actually bought a controlling share of the Mondia-Zenith-Movado holding company in 1971, which almost killed the El Primero at the tender age of six. Like comically stereotypical movie villains, the bean counters at Zenith USA decreed that its eponymous watch company should henceforth produce only quartz watches, and ordered the destruction of all production equipment for mechanical movements. Horrors!
Enter plucky Swiss watchmaker Charles Vermot, who defied the wishes of the barbaric Americans, carefully hiding the tooling and machinery in the attic like, er... (Historical analogy dropped to avoid causing offence.) End result: Zenith's nefarious plans were foiled, and Zenith was saved! The El Primero was resurrected in the mid-80s, just in time for it to reach global superstardom... inside a Rolex. There would be no breakout watch for Zenith, but at least its reputation (and financial security) was cemented by being the engine supplier for the 16500-series Daytona.
Fast-forward to the year 2000, Zenith's acquisition by LVMH, and the installation of the abominable Thierry Nataf as CEO the following year. (Historical analogy dropped to avoid causing offence.) Zenith was in for a rough decade, which yielded obscenities like the Defy Xtreme. The silver lining to this brown cloud was that the Zenith brand was mainstreamed like during no other time in its history, mostly thanks to [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Zenith-96-0529-4035-Tourbillon-Titanium-Chronograph/dp/B001K3IXW8/ref=pd_sbs_watch_2"]Amazon.com: Zenith Men's 96.0529.4035/51.M Defy Xtreme Tourbillon Titanium Chronograph Watch: Zenith: Watches@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KWU%2BEaHpL.@@AMEPARAM@@51KWU%2BEaHpL[/ame]. Is there no such thing as bad publicity? Let me give Charlie Sheen a call, and see how he's doing...
What a relief it was when the Dufour regime took over in 2010, and its first act was to airbrush the Nataf years out of its corporate memory. Glam Rock and Zero-G, say hello to Trotsky and Yezhov. Zenith's signature watch for the year was the El Primero Striking 10th, best known for a sweep hand that zips around the dial in 10 seconds and demonstrating just what 36,000 bph can do for you. The movement was new, but the design was not. Although bigger at 42mm, the case and dial design -particularly the overlapping silver, black, and blue subdials- recalled the 1969 El Primero.
2011's Zenith catalog featured even closer homages to the original El Primeros. ("Original El Primeros" is not only redundant, but an oxymoron, too!) The hexagonal "Vintage 1969" remixed the chunky A384 El Primero, also of 1969. This particular watch, the El Primero 36'000VPH, is the closest homage to the classically styled reference A386. It may not have the trick chronograph of the Striking Tenth, but it still beats 10 times per second. Obviously. And at 38mm, it takes a couple of glances for it to register as a new watch.
The '69 El Primero has long been one of my dream watches, so this 2011 model is right up my alley. I love vintage watches in general, but especially appreciate the designs of the 60s and 70s. In fact, there are a couple of details that I wish Zenith had carried over onto this watch. The first is the louche "El Primero" script—shorthand for “luxuryâ€, and so evocative of the era of "soft Correenthean leatherr". In its place is a blocky, sans serif font. So cold.
I also don't like the changes made to the subdials. I prefer the big, flat LPs of the original to the contours of the new registers. And on a functional level, why make the silver hour counter the most prominent of the three circles? Put it behind the minute counter and running seconds, where it belongs! I should also note that one friend really had a problem with the star-tailed sweep hand, because it reminded him too much of Tinkerbell's wand. I told him to grow the F up.
Minor nits aside, it's very hard to complain about anything on this watch. Just look at it! I would love to own one, but would much prefer finding a '69 El Primero in good condition. Perversely, the originals are cheaper than the reissues, which is also true for blue Heuer Monacos, and most examples of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. I'd better start selling my fluids again.
Are two movement shots really necessary? C'mahn, don't bolshet me.
Some quickie review that turned out to be. It looks like I've already finished a large chunk of that article I'm going to write. Thanks for looking, and reading.
