The new Zenith Chronomaster Sport, with an El Primero movement.
ZenithThe new Zenith Chronomaster Sport chronograph, released this week, is being hailed as the great alternative to the world’s most popular, yet unattainable, watch model, the Rolex Daytona. The black ceramic bezel, handset design and bracelet are certainly similar, but being a Daytona substitute is the last thing Zenith set out to do. Nor does it owe anybody an explanation for the similarity. The Chronomaster sport is as much a forerunner of the Daytona as it is a substitute. Its ascent to the same stratosphere of stainless steel chronograph sport watches is entirely authentic.
The new Zenith Chronomaster Sport, with an El Primero movement.
ZenithBoth models were born during the golden age of sports watch design, in the1960s, and any similarities between them were more a product of their era than any desire to copy each other. Technically speaking, the early Daytona was practically a Zenith, since the model contained Zenith movements for 12 years, between 1988 and 2000 when Rolex began to use its own in-house calibers. Specifically, Rolex used a versionof Zenith’s El Primero 400 caliber, introduced in 1969, for the base movement. Both the Daytona and the Chronomaster also used similar bracelets made by Gay Freres.
Zenith Chronomaster Sport.
ZenithThe new Chronomaster sport uses the modern caliber 3600, which can measure and display elapsed time to 1/10th of a second (something the Daytona does not do). The black ceramic bezel is marked off in 1/10th of a second increments. The central chronograph hand makes one turn every 10 seconds. There is a 60-minute chronograph counter at 6 o’clock, and a 60-second counter at 3 o’clock. It’s an automatic movement with a 60-hour power reserve.
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The Rolex Daytona.
RolexDesign-wise, the Chronomaster sport is an evolution of elements inspired by early Zenith chronographs, including the black bezel and pump style pushers of the A277 from the 1960s; the overlapping subdials in three colors, tipped stick hands and ladder-style bracelet of the A385 and A386 from 1969; and the case design and pusher refinements of the El Primero De Luca from the 1980s. The new Chronomaster Sport is an updated, refined version of all of these, in a 41mm stainless steel case with ceramic black bezel and the iconic three-color registers – which were never a trait of the Daytona. Above all, the Chronomaster is more attainable than the Daytona, which is famous for its long, inaccessible waitlists at retail.
Previous Zenith models that inspired the new Chronomaster Sport.
Zenith Photo ©Laurent Xavier Moulinwww.laurentxaviermoulin.chThe other availability gap in the market the Zenith Chronomaster Sport is likely to fill is that left by the recent discontinuation of the Patek Philippe Nautilus reference 5711 which, even before it was cancelled, was obtainable only by wait list. On the secondary market, the 5711 is selling for upwards of $100,000, compared to its $30,000 retail price – for a steel watch. Pre-owned Daytona prices are priced equally absurdly. By comparison, the Chronomaster Sport retails for $10,000, and according to Zenith CEO Julien Tornare, it is being produced in quantities that are only limited by production capacity. Will there be waiting lists? “I hope not,” says Tornare. “However it is going crazy. We sold 54 pieces online within a few hours of launching it, and the day after, I got calls from dealers in Singapore, Mexico, Madrid … everywhere. They are already asking for more. Tornare says a gold version of the Chronomaster Sport is due this coming June. “Allotting them is already a challenge,” he says.
Zenith Chronomaster Sport.
ZenithJanuary 28, 2021 at 05:53AM
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Zenith’s New Chronomaster Sport Is Both Successor And Predecessor To The Rolex Daytona - Forbes
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