Zenith Chronomaster Original Limited Edition of 300 Hodinkee, Full Set, Unused, 2022

Hodinkee worked with Zenith for two years to create this model. Their intent was to design a new watch that was rooted in Zenith’s rich history with a strong element of familiarity. In our opinion the two companies created a winner: one that is at once fresh and modern, and at the same time harkens to Zenith’s historically important models from the 1970s. This watch is a modern El Primero whose very name means “the first”. The original El Primero was born in a tumultuous era for watches because of the fierce competition between Zenith, Seiko and Heuer/Breitling to be the first company ever to launch an automatic chronograph. It was also a departure for Zenith, because in 1962 they had purchased Martel – their supplier of manual winding chronographs – and intended to launch their first automatic chronograph by 1965. Notwithstanding the four-year delay in their plan, and a slump in mechanical watches as a whole, in 1969 Zenith’s El Primero became the first automatic chronograph to be pro