Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Blue Chronograph ref. 03.2040.400/53.C700 – 36000 VpH, Superb condition

During the 1960s, four major brands got into intense competition over creating the first-ever self-winding chronograph wristwatch.
Heuer and Breitling collaborated and received the support of Hamilton, Buren, and Dubois-Depraz, whereas Zenith and Seiko chose to go their own ways. By early 1969, all four companies had constructed a chronograph wristwatch that featured automatic winding, and they had all done remarkable jobs. The Caliber 11 from Heuer, the 6139 from Seiko, and Zenith’s El Primero all proved to be accurate and reliable, well-engineered movements, each of which would go on to inspire a diverse line-up of respective successors.
The watch on offer here is one of those successors.
The El Primero Chronomaster Chronograph, it could be argued, is the model that strikes the best equilibrium between the traditionalist design of the original El Primero and the contemporary design language of today. It sports a balanced 42 mm stainless steel case topped by a smooth bezel and features more than a few of the visual staples associated with Zenith’s landmark timepiece. More specifically, an aggressive case architecture paired with а dark (blue sunray, in this version of the model) dial featuring three overlapping subdials, a star-tipped chronograph hand, and faceted applied hour indices and baton hands. As for the pushers and crown – they look as if they’ve been lifted straight from the 1969 original.
Inside, proudly displayed by the exhibition caseback, the column-wheel caliber 400B is confidently ticking away. This remarkable movement features 326 components and 31 jewels, and it operates at 36,000 bph with a power reserve of 50 hours.
Our offering is in superb condition, comes in its original boxes, but no papers and is outfitted with a gorgeous dark blue alligator strap.

The watch is covered by 1 year of limited warranty from ChronoTimepieces.