No Reserve
8094
Zenith
Ref. 03.A3818.400/51.M3818
El Primero Chronomaster Revival A3818 “Cover Girl”
A fine, attractive and “like-new” limited edition stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with date, pulsometer scale, satin-finish blue dial, warranty and presentation box, numbered 40 of a limited edition of 100 pieces
- Estimate
- HK$32,000 - 64,000•€3,800 - 7,700$4,100 - 8,200
HK$63,500
Lot Details
- Manufacturer
- Zenith
- Year
- Circa 2020
- Reference No
- 03.A3818.400/51.M3818
- Movement No
- 655’556
- Case No
- 543’579, No. 40/100
- Model Name
- El Primero Chronomaster Revival A3818 “Cover Girl”
- Material
- Stainless steel
- Calibre
- Automatic, cal. El Primero 400, 31 jewels
- Bracelet/Strap
- Stainless steel Zenith bracelet, max length 210mm
- Clasp/Buckle
- Stainless steel Zenith deployant clasp
- Dimensions
- 37mm diameter
- Signed
- Case, dial, movement, bracelet and clasp signed
- Accessories
- Accompanied by Zenith international warranty stamped Zenith and dated 5th March 2020, instruction manual, leather card holder, hang tag, additional suede leather strap in navy with stainless steel pin buckle, additional leather strap in tan with stainless steel pin buckle, fitted presentation box and outer packaging.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
- To be named a “cover girl”, one must have a face that launches a thousand new looks, used as a benchmark for what millions of people think of an icon. In watch collecting, only one model has earned this nickname: the original Zenith El Primero ref. A3818, which is famously plastered on the cover of Manfred Rössler’s “Zenith: Swiss Watch Manufacture Since 1865”. The original “Cover Girl” is extremely scarce, with an estimation of only 1,000 units in circulation, produced between 1971 and 1972.
- Almost 50 years later, Zenith revived this blue-dialled wonder in 2020 with the launch of the present remastered El Primero Chronomaster ref. 03.A3818.400/51.M3818. Limited to 100 examples, this reissue was an instant hit among avid vintage collectors and young enthusiasts.
- Sisters, not twins; the modern “Cover Girl” is a contemporary take on its vintage predecessor. The present model retains its curvy 37mm tonneau-shaped case in stainless steel, topped with a sleek sunburst finish emanating from the skirts of the crystal. The edges of the case are sharply angled, contrasted with round chronograph pushers and an unguarded crown. Much like the original, the sharp blue dial on the revival is finished with vertical brushstrokes, punctuated by three chronograph subdials with a circular finish. The most distinctive feature of the dial is its shark-tooth-like demarcation lines, designed to measure up to 1/5th of a second for enhanced accuracy. Furthermore, the dial is complete with a trapezoidal date window at 4:30 and a bold red chronograph seconds hand that brings the blue canvas alive.
All hands on the present dial are rhodium-plated and lumed, including the fine subdial hands, along with the pedestal-shaped hour indicators. The modern dial offers a vivid glow through the execution of luminous material on the 300 time demarcations, the pulsometer track, the tachymeter track, and the Arabic numerals on the subdials. This remastered watch is also improved with a sapphire caseback that allows its wearer to admire the cal. El Primero 400 within, including its rotor finished with Côtes de Genève stripes.
As pioneers of automatic chronographs with a legacy of narrowly escaping the quartz crisis, it is no surprise that collectors find the modern Cover Girl equally as popular as its antecedent. Numbered 40 of a limited edition of 100 pieces, the present example is offered in “like-new” condition with its full set of accessories.
- Almost 50 years later, Zenith revived this blue-dialled wonder in 2020 with the launch of the present remastered El Primero Chronomaster ref. 03.A3818.400/51.M3818. Limited to 100 examples, this reissue was an instant hit among avid vintage collectors and young enthusiasts.
- Sisters, not twins; the modern “Cover Girl” is a contemporary take on its vintage predecessor. The present model retains its curvy 37mm tonneau-shaped case in stainless steel, topped with a sleek sunburst finish emanating from the skirts of the crystal. The edges of the case are sharply angled, contrasted with round chronograph pushers and an unguarded crown. Much like the original, the sharp blue dial on the revival is finished with vertical brushstrokes, punctuated by three chronograph subdials with a circular finish. The most distinctive feature of the dial is its shark-tooth-like demarcation lines, designed to measure up to 1/5th of a second for enhanced accuracy. Furthermore, the dial is complete with a trapezoidal date window at 4:30 and a bold red chronograph seconds hand that brings the blue canvas alive.
All hands on the present dial are rhodium-plated and lumed, including the fine subdial hands, along with the pedestal-shaped hour indicators. The modern dial offers a vivid glow through the execution of luminous material on the 300 time demarcations, the pulsometer track, the tachymeter track, and the Arabic numerals on the subdials. This remastered watch is also improved with a sapphire caseback that allows its wearer to admire the cal. El Primero 400 within, including its rotor finished with Côtes de Genève stripes.
As pioneers of automatic chronographs with a legacy of narrowly escaping the quartz crisis, it is no surprise that collectors find the modern Cover Girl equally as popular as its antecedent. Numbered 40 of a limited edition of 100 pieces, the present example is offered in “like-new” condition with its full set of accessories.
Zenith
Swiss | 1865Since Zenith's beginnings, founder George Favre-Jacot sought to manufacture precision timepieces, realizing quality control was best maintained when production was housed under one roof. Zenith remains one of the few Swiss manufacturers to produce their own in-house movements to this day.
Today, the brand is best known for the "El Primero," the firm's most successful automatic chronograph movement. In an interesting twist of fate, the company that owned Zenith during the 1970s decided to move on to quartz movements and therefore sought to destroy the parts and tools necessary to make mechanical movements. One watchmaker realized this folly and hid the tools and parts before they were destroyed. In 1984, he returned them to Zenith so they could once again make the El Primero movement.
Browse MakerToday, the brand is best known for the "El Primero," the firm's most successful automatic chronograph movement. In an interesting twist of fate, the company that owned Zenith during the 1970s decided to move on to quartz movements and therefore sought to destroy the parts and tools necessary to make mechanical movements. One watchmaker realized this folly and hid the tools and parts before they were destroyed. In 1984, he returned them to Zenith so they could once again make the El Primero movement.