The Ebel Sports Classic -later dubbed 1911- is undoubtedly one of the symbols of the 80s, no other watch represented the insouciance and maximalism of that period as this watch.
Created in 1911, Ebel rapidly made a name for itself supplying private label watches to other brands. Ebel’s breakthrough came in the late 1970s when one of the founder’s grand children Pierre-Alain Blum took the helm making Ebel one of the most iconic brands of the 1980s-1990s.
The Sport Classique models were launched in 1977 with their defining “wave” bracelets, however it was not until 1982 that the chronograph model was presented, Ebel turning to Zenith to supply El Primero chronograph movements that they had stopped producing but still had a few in stock. Rolex is often credited for the revival of the El Primero movement when they introduced the automatic winding Daytona ref 16520 but that was in 1988, 6 years after Ebel!
The present superbly lavish example features an ultra rare blue mother of pear dial with diamond indexes and houses the last iteration of the El Primero, cal 400.