This act allowed Zenith to resume the production of El Primero without having to redevelop tooling in the mid-1980s. Ignoring orders, Vermot secretly hid all the equipment and tooling necessary for the production of the chronograph movements behind a sealed wall in the grenier or attic of the Zenith Manufacture. But it was saved by Charles Vermot, a specialist in chronograph movement construction at Zenith.
Aiming to market quartz watches exclusively, the Chicago-based company decided to stop the production of all mechanical movements, including the venerable El Primero. So today, not only is there a new model paying tribute to the legendary chronograph, but it is available in a more accessible material.Īs quartz watches were gaining popularity in the mid-1970s, Zenith was sold to an American company called the Zenith Radio Corporation. While the first one was re-edited and is now part of the permanent collection, the most iconic of the lot, the A386, has only been offered in very limited series, for the 50th anniversary of the El Primero, in steel or in gold. Without reviewing the story behind the 1969 El Primero movement ( which you can read here), which was one of the three first automatic chronograph calibres ever created, it is worth noting that it was, in fact, a trilogy of watches that Zenith launched to inaugurate its innovative, integrated, high-beat automatic chronograph, with the references A384, A385 and A386. So, let’s have a closer look at this new Zenith Chronomaster Revival Manufacture Edition.
Finally, this watch marks the “Manufacture Edition” series. Second, it reproduces a previously unknown prototype dial, which was once made for the A386 but never used. First of all, it will be the final version of the A386 available with the original Revival case. At first, you might think that this new watch is a vintage re-edition of the iconic 1969 El Primero A386 – which it is, and that’s already quite something, as this one is stainless steel.
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