ALSO NEW : A BLUE CHRONOMASTER A386
As Zenith prepared for last year ’ s fiftieth anniversary celebration for El Primero , its premier automatic chronograph , the Le Locle watchmaker sifted again through the cache of tools and prototypes slated for destruction in 1975 , but preserved at the time by the forward-thinking Charles Vermot .
There , amid piles of boxes , Zenith found another version of the now well-known Chronomaster tri-color dial . But instead of the grey , black and blue subdials , the discovered prototype featured three different shades of blue .
And while Zenith says it has no records of these blue tri-color dials , the watchmaker has determined that they were part of the original prototype dials for the A386 , the 38mm steel case that housed versions of the first El Primero in 1969 .
NEW AND BLUE
This Zenith Chronomaster Revival Manufacture Edition is a new production model Chronomaster cased in the El Primero A386 steel case and using that all-bluesubdial design on its dial . Of course , inside Zenith is placing its El Primero high-frequency automatic chronograph with column wheel .
Echoing earlier Revival models , Zenith is reproducing the recently discovered dial within the 38mm stainless steel case ( with pump-style pushers ) with close attention to the blueprints of the original .
Zenith adds that this release will be the final Revival model to feature the A386 case style and size . The watchmaker is making the new Chronomaster Revival Manufacture Edition available only on its e-commerce site and then at its Le Locle manufacturing facility ( when it reopens for to the public for visits ).
Zenith is producing special packaging for the watch that looks like a book . On its cover is a blueprint of the Zenith manufacture , and inside Zenith adds a comic book about Charles Vermot . Price : $ 8,700
56 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | FALL 2020