#ZENITH CHRONOMASTER GT SERIES#

The Zenith El Primero Chronomaster series excels when it comes to complications. The sizes of the timepieces range between 38 and 45 mm, with the bigger versions being more suitable for larger wrists. There is also a wide variety of case materials used: You have the choice between rose gold, stainless steel, and durable ceramic. Classic variants with the original case from 1969 are grouped together with models featuring almost completely skeletonized dials, which give you a view of the movement at work. The series, first introduced in 1994, is known for its diversity of designs. It has a balance frequency of 36,000 A/h (5 Hz) and allows you to measure 1/10th of a second. After all, there's a reason the El Primero has a reputation of being Zenith's most powerful caliber. Today, the movement is still considered ultra-precise. Other manufacturers took advantage of this caliber: Rolex modified it to their needs, renaming it Caliber 4030, and used it in the Daytona.

It made history as the first integrated, automatic chronograph caliber. The movement was first introduced in 1969, though its development began in 1962. Both cars were restored by Craig Jackson, CEO at US auctioneer Barrett-Jackson, who supplied REC with material from each to make 318 and 282 limited edition P51 watches respectively.The Zenith El Primero Chronomaster collection is comprised of many timepieces with different designs, all tied together by their common use of the famous El Primero caliber. This time, metal recovered from a pair of historic Shelby Mustangs has been adapted for two models that pay tribute to the 1967 GT500 EXP prototypes ‘Little Red’ and ‘Green Hornet’. Several brands have created watches incorporating parts from the salvaged bits of interesting cars, planes and boats, but REC makes a better job of it than most. If you don’t fancy growing old waiting for a Daytona, the Chronomaster Sport is just as good, a fraction of the price – and your retailer won’t laugh at you for asking to buy one.

Add the fact that the movement has been upgraded to a new Calibre 3600 specification giving it 60 hours of power reserve and a blue column wheel that can be seen through the transparent case back, and you have a watch that owes nothing to anyone other than Zenith’s design team. The 41mm Chronomaster Sport’s ceramic bezel is graduated in the 1/10th of a second increments that the El Primero movement is capable of recording. You don’t need to look too hard, either, to find elements of Zenith’s 1990s Rainbow (named after the 1934 America’s Cup-winning yacht) or the Stratos Flyback Striking 10th, as worn by skydiver Felix Baumgartner during his recordjump from the edge of space in 2012. So why is the new Zenith different? For a start, it’s fair to say that inspiration came from the brand’s back catalogue – the three-colour subdials are straight from the A386 launched in 1969 (the year Zenith perfected its El Primero, the first self-winding chronograph movement), while the pump pushers are reminiscent of the 1980s De Luca chronograph. But, until the arrival of Zenith’s just-launched Chronomaster Sport, there hasn’t really been a contender that is of comparable quality, that’s fairly priced and is historically legitimate (i.e. It won’t take long to find a dozen or more watches that are ‘inspired’ by the look of the Daytona, and you might even find one or two that are worth having. But, just as people are beginning to seriously question the logic of being so blatantly shafted for what is a largely unremarkable if undeniably well-engineered watch, so a challenger to the Daytona has arrived from an unexpected rival – Zenith. The market is so hot that such watches are finding buyers easily, despite prices being vastly inflated. The Rolex RRP for its so-called ‘watch born to race’ is a more reasonable £10,500.

The first result thrown up by a Google search for such a watch offered a 2021 model delivered in three weeks for a price of £27,880. Demand is so high that dealers’ waiting lists now stretch into the next decade, so the only way to secure a ‘new’ Cosmograph is to look to the preowned market and pay a huge premium above retail for one that’s being ‘flipped’. Sign up SubscribeĪnyone who keeps an eye on the modern watch market will know that it is currently a waste of time to walk into a Rolex retailer that deigns to allow you to purchase a steel Cosmograph Daytona chronograph. Sign-up now for access to a limited number of articles.

Zenith chronomaster gt