Having curated a collection for the past 3 years, the underlying thought process of adding a chronograph to the collection had persisted with me for a long time. Yes, a Speedy is a Speedy, but I was inexplicably drawn to the Zenith Chronomaster El Primero for one its history, two its importance and three its lustrous and eye-catching groundbreaking movement.

The Zenith El Primero (translated to The First) could easily have been lost to the watch world during the quartz crisis had it not been for Charles Vermot and the movement’s reintroduction in 1983. You could almost say that a long lost love affair had been re-discovered and in 2019 we celebrate 50 years of an icon.

It’s no revelation among the watch community this chunky wrist can adapt to many dial sizes and while the 38mm wore well on my wrist, I was easily captivated more by the 42mm which is what I put the cash down for. The 42mm wears slightly larger due to it not having a bezel but for larger wrists it is perfect. The symmetry of the 42mm dial allows perfect placement of the sub-dials and also the date window at 6pm (the 38mm has it between 4-5pm) and this, in turn, lets the dial breathe somewhat better and eliminates any cramping.

The dial, a striking silver sunburst that shimmers between white to silver to grey depending on the light and allows the tri-colour subdials to pop. Lume dots at the hour markers and the hour/minute hands is what we get here so don’t expect torch light brightness but then again this isn’t a dive piece so there is no need for that.

Beating at a healthy 36000 VPH, this elegant high beat chronograph is so legendary that Rolex housed the movement in their famous Daytona. That’s right, there would be no self-winding Daytona had it not been for the El Primero and considering the price of a Daytona these days and what you can get from an Zenith Chronomaster El Primero, the decision was an easy one….. at least for me.