Released to great anticipation last year, Zenith’s Chronomaster Sport quickly became one of the “must have” chronographs for watch lovers everywhere. Crowned with the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève 2021 “Chronograph” prize, the Chronomaster Sport is a modern icon in the making. For Watches & Wonders 2022, Zenith is expanding the collection with new versions incorporating precious metals while retaining the performance-centric allure and spirit of the original model.
The El Primero 3600 is the latest evolution of the beloved high frequency of 5Hz (36’000VpH) movement offering 1/10th of second time indication, demonstrating competence and mastery of how humans have reckoned time. The result of over 50 years of refining the world’s first automatic high-frequency chronograph calibre, its autonomy has also been rendered more efficient, with an extended power reserve of 60 hours.
Zenith Chronomaster Sport Gold, Two-Tone and Open editions highlight different personalities of the brand’s beloved high performance El Primero calibre
This year, high performance meets high luxury in gold and two-tone combinations. Available with either a black or white dial with the signature El Primero tricolour counters with golden hands and applied markers, the Chronomaster Sport in rose gold is a sumptuous new take on last year’s evergreen stainless steel boutique edition.
Meticulously finished with satin-brushed and polished surfaces, the Chronomaster Sport in rose gold exudes warm radiance in stark contrast to its predecessor’s cool exterior. Entirely in rose gold – including the bracelet and engraved bezel with 1/10th of a second scale – it is one of the most competitively priced, high performance chronographs on the market with the added benefit of enjoying a sapphire display back, which showcases the new architecture of the latest El Primero movement revealing a blue column wheel and open rotor marked with the five-pointed star Zenith.
Bearing a sportive trig-register trim-colour dial, the Chronomaster Sport is also available in a luxurious “two-tone” aesthetic, combining the durability of cold stainless steel and the radiance of rose gold. The silver sunray-patterned tricolour dial adds a shimmery countenance emphasising the mix of tones and textures to great effect, playing up the case as well as the side links of the bracelet in stainless steel and the bezel, crown, pushers and the bracelet’s centre links in rose gold.
Chronomaster Sport Gold and Two-Tone Price and Specs
Case 41mm gold or steel and gold with 100 metres of water resistance
Movement Automatic El Primero 3600 with 60 hours of power reserve
Price Price range from SGD 24,900 to SGD 55,900
Zenith has cultivated its spirit of innovation by breaking new boundaries. With the new El Primero 3600, we wanted to give our fans a clearer, dial-side view of our treasured high-frequency 5Hz escapement with lubricant-free silicon escape wheel and pallet lever – Julien Tornare, Zenith CEO
The El Primero 3600 Exposed: The Chronomaster Open
2021’s introduction of the new and improved El Primero 3600 boasting improved efficiency encouraged the Le Locle manufacture to adapt and incorporate the latest developments into a concept it first debuted in 2003.
Following the ethos of the original model, the Open heart was always the Neuchâtel brand’s love letter to the world’s first high-frequency chronograph movement. The original Chronomaster Open made the high-frequency beating heart of its calibre as prominently visible as possible, making it the first time in the history of watchmaking that a chronograph featured a partially open dial solely to reveal the regulating organ and escapement.
For 2022, the latest iteration of the Chronomaster Open retains the iconic tri-colour dial configuration that debuted with the iconic A386 in 1969 with a transparent twist. Instead of cutting out the small seconds counter at nine o’clock entirely, as was the case with the previous versions of the Chronomaster Open, the three counter colours are retained thanks to a hesalite crystal element that serves as a readable sub-dial, while allowing a view of the silicon star-shaped escape wheel. Where the original version used an applied “frame” to accentuate the opening, the latest variant has opted for circular openings with chamfered edges. While this doesn’t quite call attention to it like the original, the window into the soul of the movement reveals straight bridges and a more contemporary grey tone with greater clarity.
At 39.5mm instead of 42mm like its predecessor, the latest Chronomaster Open features slimmer lugs and more pronounced polished bevels on the edges, giving it an air of sophistication while still remaining fairly sportive.
Chronomaster Open Price & Specs
Case 39.5mm stainless steel or rose gold with 100 metres of water resistance
Movement Automatic El Primero 3600 with 60 hours of power reserve
Price Price range from SGD 13,800 to SGD 30,800
