Zenith’s El Primero 50 Anniversary Set
The new 46mm Zenith Defy Double Tourbillon, with a seconds hand that rotates once per second, is offered with a carbon case (pictured) or a platinum case.
($19,200 each).
The 44mm Defy El Primero 21 Carbon is the first all-carbon version of this
1/100 of a second chronograph (that features two separate escapements)
Zenith introduced in 2017. Here, it’s not just the faceted case and round
bezel that are forged from carbon, but also the crown and chronograph
pushers. The hour, minute and constant seconds hands, like the applied hour
markers, are faceted with a dark ruthenium coating and filled with black
SuperLuminova. To focus on the high-speed aspect of the watch, Zenith
has brightened the tips of the central 1/100-second hand and seconds and
minutes hands with bright red accents.
Zenith’s new Defy El Primero Double Tourbillon, a Baselworld 2019
highlight for many observers, starts with the high-speed (360,000 bph)
developed for the Defy El Primero 21 and ups the horological ante.
Here, Zenith adds two tourbillons – a first for the watchmaker. One of the
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tourbillons (at 10 o’clock) is coupled with and regulates the chronograph that
displays hundredths of a second. This tourbillon beats at 50 Hz (360,000
vibrations per hour) with its carriage rotating every five seconds, which
Zenith says is the world’s fastest.
While that high-speed tourbillon regulates the chronograph hand, which
turns once per second, the second tourbillon (at 8 o’clock) operates at 5 Hz
(36,000 vph) with a carriage that rotates once per minute. This tourbillon
regulates the rate of the hours, minutes and seconds. This model is available
in two limited editions: a ten-piece platinum version and a fifty-unit carbon
interpretation.
With an eye to its historical El Primero designs, Zenith at Baselworld also
debuted three near-replicas of its 1969 El Primero with the round 38mm
case. While the anniversary edition faithfully reproduces the original model’s
case size, domed crystal, three-colored counters, tachymeter scale, shape of