![]() The El Primero went on to power not only Zenith watches, but pieces made by other brands like Tag Heuer, Dunhill, and for a time even Rolex, which used it in the Daytona for just over a decade from 1989 (albeit with some significant in-house modifications). On landing in New York, the watch showed no change in performance. To test the A385’s-or rather the El Primero’s-reliability, in 1970, Zenith strapped one to the undercarriage of an Air France Boeing 707 bound for New York in what was imaginatively called “Operation Sky.” Though it looked like a marketing gimmick, the test was a bona fide trial for the new watch, designed to pit it against the extremes of changes in temperature and air pressure as well as wind, water, and vibrations at high altitude. The original A385 was one of three rather different-looking designs to first carry the El Primero, but its blocky tonneau shape and smoked brown dial was probably the most “1969” of them all. In the other two corners, Seiko in Japan and an alliance between Heuer-Leonidas (as Tag Heuer was then called), Breitling, and Hamilton both were pipped to the post by a Zenith press conference in Geneva in January 1969. At least it was the first one let out of the bag, hence the name. More crucially, however, it was also the first automatic chronograph, the victor in a triangular horological equivalent of the space race. The El Primero was a groundbreaking movement for watch nerds when it first surfaced in early 1969 for a number of reasons, not least being the 36,000 semi-oscillations per hour that made it significantly more accurate than most production watches of the time. In addition to the groundbreaking El Primero movement, the A385’s brown gradient dial delivers a very "1969" vibe. But arguably none of them are as mind-bendingly faithful to the original inspiration than the Chronomaster Revival A385, out now. Since 2019, Zenith has made much of the 50th anniversary of its groundbreaking El Primero movement and has produced a number of nuts-and-bolts rebuilds, redesigns, or updates of the iconic watches that first carried it. But what happens when the movement is the most famous thing about a watch? While we are all easily smitten by riffs on iconic watches, precise recreations down to the nth degree are often stymied by the need to modernize in the process, like using a more modern in-house movement or supersizing a watch to suit modern tastes for bigness. ![]() ![]() ![]() The recreation of vintage-inspired watches from an illustrious back catalog of designs has become an accepted, if sometimes overused, industry practice for watch brands-namely those with the right history-to create “newness.” Or maybe that should be “oldness.” Whatever. I immediately wired the funds directly to Thanh/Takuya Watches, and I had tracking the next day! Just picked up the watch from fedex today, immediately went and had it sized by a Rolex AD, and even they were impressed with not only having a brand new watch/full set available, but also at how fast I got it when people are having to put hefty deposits down with AD’s and wait a year or more for a new YG Day Date.Welcome to Dialed In, Esquire's weekly column bringing you horological happenings and the most essential news from the watch world since March 2020. After selecting the one I wanted, again only MINUTES later, I receive pictures of the actual brand new watch, and full set. He asked me what model Rolex and specifics I was looking for, and literally within MINUTES I got 3 examples of Day Date’s that fit my needs. ![]() Thanh was already updating me with the tracking/shipping information before I could even have the chance to follow up with him myself! Thanh / Takuya Watches is TOP CLASS! I can’t express how grateful I am at how easy, painless, and streamline the transaction was with Thanh.Ĭommunication, Professionalism, and all around GREAT customer service both on the front end of the transaction and the back end. ![]()
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