The question of who was the first to commercialize and produce the watch in series is still difficult to answer, yet when it comes to the public launch, El Primero deserves its name. Zenith was, therefore, the first manufacturer to publicly launch its own automatic chronograph. On January 10th 1969, Zenith hosted a press conference in Le Locle (where the brand still has its manufacture in the historical buildings), and announced the birth of the El Primero automatic calibre. This development was initiated in 1962 with the goal of presenting the movement in 1965 to coincide with the centenary of the brand – but it took the brand a few more years to reveal the movement to the world. Zenith, with the El Primero, a high-frequency (5Hz), integrated chronograph with a horizontal clutch.Seiko, with the calibre 6139, an integrated, column-wheel actuated chronograph with vertical coupling.The movement was a modular construction with an automatic base (with micro-rotor) and a chronograph module on top. A consortium uniting Heuer, Breitling, Hamilton-Buren and chronograph specialist Dubois-Depraz presented the Chronomatic or Calibre 11 – depending on the brand using it.Three parties (or groups of movement suppliers) started to develop chronograph movements with automatic winding.
Three parties started to develop their own project, each with their own merits and their own technical vision.Ī modern version of the Zenith El Primero, calibre 4061, chronometer certified. Back in the mid-1960s, watchmakers embarked on a genuine race to develop the first self-winding chronograph, as it was time for this type of watches to modernize. Part of a trilogy of automatic chronograph calibres that hit the market in 1969, it is the only one that is still produced to date. We already covered the topic of the Zenith El Primero in an in-depth article here, but a brief reminder about this legendary movement might be necessary to understand the following set of watches.īorn in 1969, El Primero (the first in Spanish) is still regarded as one of the best and most accurate chronograph movements ever created. In order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this emblematic movement, Zenith introduces an exclusive “50 Years of El Primero Anniversary Set” of watches, including a faithful re-edition of the mythical A386 and the introduction of a new movement, the Calibre 3600. In January 1969 though, the very first to be introduced, as suggested by its name was El Primero, “The First” Automatic Chronograph. Indeed, all (literally all of them) were hand-wound movements… until 1969, when the world of watches changed drastically when three of the most prominent movements ever made were launched almost simultaneously. Back in the 1960s, as surprising as it seems now, there was only one way to use a chronograph: you had to wind it every morning.
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