This window offers a view of the high-frequency column-wheel (highlighted in blue) chronograph with a lateral clutch and an extended 60-hour power reserve.īuilding off 50 years of experience, this next-gen El Primero is able to precisely track 1/10th-of-a-second increments from the 5 Hz (36,000 VpH) escapement. The sleek black ceramic bezel, marked in increments of 1/10th of a second, offers a clue to what’s under the hood: the new and improved El Primero 3600 caliber, showcased through the sapphire crystal case back. The light-gray sub-dial at 9 o’clock is a small-seconds and the chronograph counters-minutes at 6 o’clock and seconds at 3 o’clock-are scaled to 60 for a quick and intuitive read of elapsed times. With black or white versions, the dial design stays true to the original 1969 El Primero A386 with its overlapping, colored sub-dials in shades of blue, anthracite and light gray. “It’s super comfortable, polished, and with the security buckle we had on the De Luca in those years.” It also comes on a textured rubber strap if you prefer that look. “We worked a lot on the bracelet to make it as close as possible to the De Luca’s,” Tornare says. Wore one on his audacious 23-mile skydiving jump from a space capsule suspended from a giant helium balloon in the stratosphere.Ĭhronomaster Sport’s robust stainless steel case measures 41mm with an integrated steel bracelet that directly takes its cues from the De Luca.

A277 pre-El Primero chronograph and the Stratos Striking Tenth from 2011, made famous when Zenith aficionados may also pick up a few influences from the ’60s-era ref.

Zenith el primero chronomaster sport