![]() What’s more, El Primero was not the first to hit the market. There are many debates about which was the first automatic chronograph, as both the Seiko and the Chronomatic movements were announced later the same year. It was presented in January 1969 in a press conference and aptly christened El Primero ( first in Spanish). The Zenith automatic chronograph was the first to be unveiled to the world. The calibre was also named ‘Datron HS 36’ at Movado, which commercialised the movement under the Zenith-Movado-Mondia consortium. Better known as El Primero, this development was initiated in 1962 with the goal of presenting the movement in 1965 to coincide with the centenary of the brand. The Zenith – code-named 3019 PHC calibre – was a high-frequency integrated chronograph with a horizontal clutch.The Seiko 6139 calibre was a 27mm integrated column wheel chronograph with vertical coupling and beating at 21,600 vibrations/hour (or 3Hz).It conceived the Calibre 11, a modular construction based on a micro-rotor Buren movement and a Dubois-Depraz chronograph mechanism. The Chronomatic was the project of a consortium uniting Heuer, Breitling, Hamilton-Buren and chronograph specialist Dubois-Depraz.Three parties started to develop their own project, each with their own merits and their own technical vision. Watchmakers embarked on a genuine race to develop the first self-winding chronograph. In the 1960s, it was time for the chronograph to modernise itself, by adding the practicality and comfort of automatic winding. The mechanism oscillates at a frequency of 36,600 vph.Chronograph wristwatches have existed since the beginning of the 20 th century (around 1912 or 1913 for the earliest examples) but all of them were fitted with hand-wound movements. There is a straight-line lever escapement, a self-compensating Breguet balance spring, a monometallic balance that's adjusted to 5 positions, and an index regulator. It's constructed with 41 jewels, 322 components, and a shock absorber mechanism. The automatic self-winding Zenith El Primero Caliber 4047 movement is rhodium-plated with fausses cotes embellishment. The 15.6mm thick case, dial, and movement are all signed. It's water resistant to 50 meters/165 feet, and there is a 50-hour power reserve at full wind. A running seconds sub dial is visible inside the cutout at 9 o'clock, and there is a double-digit window with a patented 3-disk grande date at 2 o'clock. The column wheel chronograph stop/watch has round pushbuttons and a large blue central seconds counter hand. There is a moon phase subsidiary dial with sunray design, a day/night indicator at 6 o'clock, and a 30-minute dial at 3 o'clock. It has applied rhodium plated rose gold baton hour index markers with luminescent tips, and skeletonized baton hands with luminescent inserts. There is a printed black minute indicator track with an outer tachymeter scale. The dial is silvered with an open-worked figure eight cutout at 9 o'clock, with a fine rose gold rim that's secured by 3 gun-metal blued screws. The 45mm diameter solid three-body case is polished with brushed downturned lugs and an angled bezel. It has a leather strap with a matching steel deployant buckle, a scratch resistant sapphire crystal, and a sapphire display case back with anti-reflective coating on both surfaces. ![]() This is a stainless steel Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Open Grande Date, 03.2160.4047/01.c713. More about El Primero Chronomaster Open Grande Date SS / Leather
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