Stainless steel chronographs have long been a favourite timepiece within the collecting community due to their rugged, and dependable aesthetic, as well as easily moving from casual settings to formal. Early chronographs were manually wound, however in the late 1960s, both Zenith and Heuer introduced automatic chronograph movements. In 1969, Zenith released their first such movement with the “El Primero”, which is still celebrated for its innovation with an extraordinary high frequency of 36,000 beats per hour, ensuring outstanding timekeeping performance. The movement became so well-known for its quality, that Rolex used it as the base for their first automatic chronograph, the Daytona reference 16520 released in 1988.

The “El Primero” was launched with two models: the A386 in stainless steel and the G381 in 18k yellow gold. Both shared similar aesthetics, most notably a 37.5mm case featuring wide, faceted lugs, as well as pump pushers. Each inaugural “El Primero” model had a distinct dial with the steel example having overlapping tricolor registers, and the yellow gold model with a classical “panda” dial of black registers on a white face.

The present watch, the Chronomaster Final Edition, is a limited edition re-creation of the original released in 2021, with the announcement that Zenith planned to discontinue the 38mm diameter case size. Number 1 of 38 timepieces, the watch is the first in the series, and retains the iconic design of the original models. Furthermore, clearly a special example, it includes three additional dials with subtle variations giving the owner a total four different options. To our knowledge, this is the only example of the limited edition to include additional dials. Featuring the non-date automatic caliber 4061 with 50 hour power reserve, this lot is in unworn condition and complete with a stainless steel bracelet, three straps, and all of its accessories. Zenith’s “El Primero” is an icon amongst chronograph wristwatches, and this final edition is a wonderful tribute to the original 1969 model.