Zenith - Timepieces for HSNY: 2022 Charity Auction New York Wednesday, July 6, 2022 | Phillips

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  • Manufacturer: Zenith
    Year: 2019
    Reference No: C.01
    Case No: 531’072; No. 7 of 50
    Model Name: Chronomaster El Primero C.01 for Collective
    Material: Stainless steel
    Calibre: Automatic, cal. 4061, 31 jewels
    Bracelet/Strap: Cordura® (synthetic fiber-based fabric)
    Clasp/Buckle: Stainless steel Zenith deployant clasp
    Dimensions: 38mm Diameter
    Signed: Case, dial, movement, and clasp signed.
    Accessories: Accompanied by Zenith guarantee card, instruction manual, leather wallet, hang tag, polishing cloth, presentation box, and outer packaging.

  • Catalogue Essay

    2019 marked the 50th anniversary of Zenith’s landmark El Primero movement, widely agreed to be the first fully integrated, automatic chronograph caliber in production. To herald this occasion, Zenith collaborated with a number of partners across the watch industry and produced limited editions that celebrated the El Primero in various unique ways.

    The Chronomaster El Primero C.01 was the first foray into limited edition collaborations for Collective, a San Francisco Bay Area-based collector group founded by two longtime friends and watch collectors working in the tech industry. They sought to design an El Primero that took the architecture of the original but reinterpreted as a tech product designed in Silicon Valley. Modern, restrained, and surprisingly legible, the watch features several unique touches such as a rhodium-plated chronograph hand, satin-finished chronograph pushers, and a subtle matte white dial with contrasting light grey subsidiary dials.

    Most importantly for many collectors, the watch features no date and measures 38mm in diameter. Sparingly used and accompanied with its original accessories, the present C.01 has been donated by Collective and all net proceeds from the auction of this timepiece will be donated to support HSNY’s ongoing educational initiatives.

  • Artist Biography

    Zenith

    Swiss • 1865

    Since 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.

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9

Lot offered with No Reserve

Ref. C.01
An extremely rare and highly attractive limited edition stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with guarantee card and presentation box, number 7 of 50, sold to benefit the Horological Society of New York’s ongoing education initiatives

2019
38mm Diameter
Case, dial, movement, and clasp signed.

Estimate
$4,000 - 8,000 
CHF3,900-7,700
€3,900-7,800
HK$31,400-62,800
S$5,600-11,200

Sold for $16,380

Contact Specialist

Paul Boutros
Head of Watches, Americas
+1 (212) 940-1293
WatchesNY@Phillips.com

Isabella Proia
Head of Sale, New York
+1 (212) 940 1285
iproia@phillips.com

Timepieces for HSNY: 2022 Charity Auction

Online Auction 6 - 13 July 2022