Already 50 years that the Zenith El Primero has been produced, but the El Primero still remains one of the most influential chronograph in the watch industry. Since 1969 Zenith produced few versions of the El Primero but the classic standard El Primero is still produced in 40mm and 42mm steel case. Zenith had the great idea to celebrate the anniversary of the El Primero with a retro-inspired edition in a 70's design case. This new edition is a revival of the original 1969 Reference A384.

The 50th anniversary El Primero comes in a 37 mm diameter and 12.60 mm thick steel case, adopting an angular tonneau shape. This case shape is reminiscent of the 60's and 70's early El Primero models.

The steel case has a magnificent radially-brushed top surface, and polished edges. It reminds me of the vintage Omega Speedmaster Mark II. The Zenith case is however more angular.

The El Primero adopts a panda tri-compax layout. The dial has a white-lacquered finish, whereas the three sub-dials are black. The counter 30min-subdial is located at 3 o'clock, the counter 12h-subdial is located at 6 o'clock, whereas the 60s-subdial is located at 9 o'clock. The three subdial hands are painted in white color.

The main white dial has applied faceted rhodium-plated rectangular indices, coated with SuperLuminova. The hour and counter second hands are also faceted and rhodium-plated. On contrast the counter second hand is painted in red color. These three hands are coated with SuperLuminova.

A date window is located at 4.5 o'clock. The date is written in a black font on a white background. The date window is thus well integrated in the watch dial and not to intrusive.

The watch is of course powered by the iconic El Primero caliber. The watch is powered by the caliber 13 1/4. This is a modern version of the El Primero calibre 400.

The new caliber is composed of 278 pieces and it benefits from the more efficient manufacturing process to improve its accuracy and reliability. The caliber architecture and design are however very close to the original ones. The caliber is a column wheel movement with an horizontal clutch. The caliber conserves its famous high beat rate of 5Hz (36,000 vph).

The watch white dial and the black tachymetric scale are protected by a domed sapphire crystal with anti-reflective treatment on both sides.

The watch comes with a black alligator leather strap with protective rubber lining.

"* 1969-2019 *", "50th ANNIVERSARY EDITION" and "50 M" are engraved on the metal part of the watch case back.

The caliber can be seen through the transparent sapphire crystal of the case back. The caliber rotor is decorated with a "Côtes de Genève" motif. The Zenith star is engraved on the rotor as well as "ZENITH EL PRIMERO" on the rotor left side and "MANUFACTURE LE LOCLE" on the right side. The caliber is maintained by flame-heating blue screws. The caliber blue column wheel and the horizontal clutch are also visible through the transparent case back.

Stunnuing piece! I am a fan of the Zenith El Primero, because it represents the first true automatic chronograph. Until today I was however finding that their case design was nice but not very catchy. That is now corrected with this retro-inspired panda version. I love the radially-brused case, I love the panda dial. In addition the case is only 37mm diameter size, it makes the watch so elegant and versatile.

It is a real please to have a look to the iconic El Primero caliber. This one is not heavily decorated like it can be for high holorogy dress watches, butZenith made the effort to incorporate some colors in the movement: blue screws, pink rubis and gold-colored wheels. Special mention to the blue column wheel, it is a real pleasure to see it in action.
I love this new El Primero 50th Anniversary. Zenith nailed it with this retro-inspired design. Great news, this is not a Limited Edition (even it looks like one), but I am quite sure the production will be limited in time. Every watch enthusiast should have an El Primero in its collection, and to my opinion, this is the most appealing one.