NEWS: Zenith presents the Heritage Cronometro Tipo CP 2, a hommage to the A. Cairelli

Oct 17, 2016,11:02 AM
 

Friends, its time to lift the veil from one of the most successful new watch Zenith has presented this year (and that many, many have been looking forward to): a fantastic re-edition of the landmark chronograph in Zenith's stable: Welcome the Zenith Heritage Cronometro Tipo CP 2 :



Zenith really exerted all its cruelty by watering the mouths of a selected few by offering glimpses at this model at Basel (yours truly included  wink ), but at the same time putting a strict embargo on it until October. Finally, that is lifted!

The Tipo CP 2 is a 43mm stainless steel watch with a miliatry black dial, rotating bezel and a solid case back. It is attractive, thanks to a decidedly clean dial with only the permanent seconds, minute counters and an 'automatic' enscription at 6 o'clock. Combined with the matte calf leather (could it be Barennia - I need to confirm this), it is ultimately attractive:

The famous historical ancestor of this watch is the legendary Zenith A. Cairelli - Tipo CP-2 , watch, a military chronograph commissioned by the Italian Army through the Italian dealership A. Cairelli in Rome. 'CP' stands for cronometro di polso (wrist chronometer), and indeed were these watches not only chronographs, but also certified chronometers.

Below I'd like to share a few pics of a particularly nice example by PuristS mstanga:





Between 1965 and 1970, 2500 of these watches were delivered to Cairelli, but not all of them actually saw military use, as the commissioning A.M.I. (Aviazione Militare Italiana) stopped funding.

Only those with an 'A.M.I.' engraving and a military service number (M.M. ('Matricola Militare'); followed by a 6-digit inventory number) were actually assigned to military use. There should be about 2000 of the 2500-piece total production run.



Now with the re-edition (or hommage if you like) Zenith did an excellent work in the details. First, the diameter of 43mm is exactly identical, and to a large extent this applies to most of the various details.



First, note the fonts on the dial and the bezel - very true to the Cairelli, even down to differences between those indicating the time and those on the subdials. Also pay attention to the '5' and how perfectly it is reproduced.



The dial plate itself is flat, again faithful, with just slightly sunk subdials. If there is one minor difference then this is the slightly larger diameter of the counters compared to the Cairelli; and a larger one, being the 'A. Cairelli Roma' inscription replaced by an 'Automatic' (I was told that there was a legal reason for this).



A really wonderful feature as well, is the hands, also exactly like the original, even down to the rounded triangular tip of the central seconds hand:



It is the same for the case, with the notched bezel ring (facilitating grip), the fluted case band...





... as well as the shape of the pushers and the oversized crown:



The latter is adorned with the circled Zenith logo, which constitutes a departure from the original (which had a circled 4-spoke propeller logo, but this might be proprietary to the A.M.I. and thus was precluded from reproduction.



Also the shape of the lugs is faithfully preserved.

The A. Cairelli - Tipo CP-2 of course came as a manual wind chronograph (being created a few years prior to the El Primero), driven by the Zenith movement 146 DP (based upon Martel 749), while the new Tipo CP 2 is powered by an El Primero automatic chrono movement. So this is one major difference, which is not visible to the owner since the watch - like its ancestor - comes with a solid caseback.



But now comes the best part: wrist-time:





So overall, I am sure this is a watch which instantly will find many, many admirers. Its a reminder of Zenith's great history not only for chronometric excellence, but also for its military-approved tool watches. Judging from the many discussions on the original A. Cairelli watch I an confident that Zenith really delivered an authentic hommage ot this landmark piece.

With its military, utilitarian no-nonsense design and its strong character, I foresee lots of wristshots of the Heritage Cronometro Tipo CP 2 already, and particularly look forward for those who do the 'strap-dance' - your creativity will certainly be tickled with this watch!



One piece of information as a warning: there are only 1000 specimen to be produced... Price: well below €10.000 (I'll confirm the exact price later).
Cheers,
Magnus

P.S.: Guys: for the shots I sneaked the watch from the wrist of the fiancé of the Zenith CEO Austria & CEE. As such, it is full of 'life', if I may phrase it this watch. Otherwise, the watch was out of bounds for any media representative..., thus please excuse the dust. I think the fact that I have own life images in the first place puts you hopefully in a mood of unconditional forgiveness!


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Brilliant!

 
 By: andrewluff : October 17th, 2016-04:11
The Zenith of the year... great report Magnus! Cheers Andrew

Reminds me of the Type XX

 
 By: Mr Glass : October 17th, 2016-04:19
First thought before I zoomed in to see the detailed pictures was of a Breguet Type XX series - and for me this is a real compliment. Very good looking.

No wonder, as these military design come from the military agencies themselves, with the watch manufactures ...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 17th, 2016-04:21
be it Breguet, Lemania, Universal Geneve, Dodane an other simply producing according to spec. Similar use case bring about similar designs ;-) Cheers, Magnus

You are right

 
 By: Mr Glass : October 17th, 2016-04:44
I tend to forget that often form follows function, although the original function is long lost on me in some cases. A bit like buying a modern tourbillion purely for better timekeeping. I'd happily wear one without worrying too much whether it does or doe... 

Sure, in modern days the functionality of a mechanical watch is conditional, whereas with those...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 17th, 2016-23:44
military pieces it was essential! Best, Magnus

Beautiful lines on the case

 
 By: JToddH : October 17th, 2016-04:40
A worthy tribute. Well executed and destined to become a modern classic! I only wish I could warm up to NATO straps. Love to see this one (actual photo) on the leather strap, or rubber.

Zenith has just sent me some photos of the watch on a leather strap...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 17th, 2016-06:11
here you are: Magnus ...  

Good to hear the embargo has been lifted (even if belatedly)

 
 By: Bounce781 : October 17th, 2016-04:40
Definitely THE zenith edition of the last year (if not 3 years). Actually I have not been this excited since the Striking 10th came out a few years back. Bravo Zenith. A perfect (or near perfect) watch and is high on my list! PS please STOP issuing limite... 

Completely agree with you

 
 By: ambel : October 17th, 2016-06:24
Loves this watch but Zenith ruined it for me with all it's stupid LE of the last couple of months (Range Rover, Rolling Stones, Hodinkee). So gfed up with them being a 2nd Hublot that I am really thinking of selling my Zenith Pilot 58mm...

I can understand you, but in my eyes not all LE's are equal...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 17th, 2016-23:48
I can understand the Range Rover (I am amazed how well they captured the spirit of that legend car, I really am!), and absolutely the Hodinkee (being a bona fide watch blog). The RS however ... Best, Magnus

Very nice!

 
 By: KMII : October 17th, 2016-05:18
A very convincing military chrono from Zenith - and I suppose it will likely be a very hot item, being limited to 1.000 units and so close to the hard to get original. More like this and there will be good things coming out of the crisis after all Thanks ... 

A no go for me... The word automatic above 6 o clock.

 
 By: amanico : October 17th, 2016-06:46
Another thing is that they could, for such a watch, have opted for a manual winding movement. From a cool watch, they would have made a GREAT watch. But let's forget the automatic movement.... THE detail which seriously kills me is the mention " automatic... 

I can understand but which handwind movement to use?

 
 By: foversta : October 17th, 2016-10:50
An Amputee El Primero? I much prefer to have this automatic movement than a downgraded movement. Fx

It is not a question of will

 
 By: foversta : October 17th, 2016-16:09
It is a question of means. Developing a new handwind chronograph movement costs a lot and Zenith has ourrently other priorities. Fx

'amputee El Primero' - *very* well put, Fx. Indeed such a version...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 17th, 2016-23:55
would take away the essence of the El Primero, being the first integrated column wheel automatic chronograph, and besides - its not really that nice to look at. I believe there are three main reasons for not having a manual wind chronograph at this time: ... 

Thanks for your elaborated answer, Magnus. JLC had the same problem with the TT Geophysic.

 
 By: amanico : October 18th, 2016-00:16
Which could have been a great watch, instead of just being a cool watch. Brands ( not only Zenith, but all brands, here ) should consider our point of view.7, or 8 or 9 K euros, this is a sum for us, mere mortals. At this level of price we need something ... 

Absolutely in agreement with you, Nico...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 18th, 2016-00:20
and I guess the current market situation will induce the one or the other brand to emphasise 'value'. I would be certainly in for that. Magnus

So close...

 
 By: logan2z : October 17th, 2016-07:22
I've harped on this a few times but Zenith really needed to find a way to further separate the subdials. They're too close together, something that other modern Zenith watches suffer from. The El Primero is simply too small a movement for a 43mm case and ... 

That's a consequence of the older movement...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 17th, 2016-07:41
and to address this I think a new movement development is needed. As for the lume colour, please keep in mind that the underground beneath the lume affects its appearance. However, I think I recall that lume is applied such that it shows consistent colour... 

Lume

 
 By: logan2z : October 17th, 2016-08:26
I suspect that most people (myself included) view their watch in ambient light about 90% of the time. I wouldn't expect there to be a significant visible difference between the color of the hands and numerals under those conditions. It did give the dial a... 

A pic in a darker context

 
 By: foversta : October 17th, 2016-10:47
Fx ...  

For me, no, they are not [nt]

 
 By: foversta : October 17th, 2016-11:06

Thanks for confirmining! [nt]

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 17th, 2016-23:56

Ask three people and get five opinions

 
 By: MTF : October 17th, 2016-09:01
Magnus, Thanks for the report (finally). As you had the original watch photos since Baselworld, it is the definitive real time report albeit "under embargo" until now. As a chronograph collector, generally, I like the new Zenith watch and the new features...  

We are a bunch of nerds, difficult to please ;-)

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 17th, 2016-23:59
You captured the implications of a modern mechanical wristwatch nicely: - modern technology to an old and somewhat obsolety item - utility vs. emotion - re-editions, hommages, references... Thanks, Magnus

Here are additional pics taken a few weeks ago.

 
 By: foversta : October 17th, 2016-10:43
I really like this watch, it is a great achievement from Zenith for me. We can regret some details but if we consider the watch on an overall basis, it has a lot of charm and this reedition works very well. Thanks a lot Magnus for the in-depth presentatio...  

My only, very small gripe might be asking for a curved end strap

 
 By: cazalea : October 17th, 2016-13:11
I've been wearing this strap on one of my watches for a long time and it seems not that difficult, especially for the manufacture to match the strap end to the case diameter a bit more closely. But it's a small (and readily resolved) gripe. ...  

Mmmh, not so sure...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 19th, 2016-00:21
as this would take away much of the vintage charme of the watch, in my opinion. I see the allure but then... Cheers, Magnus

A very faithful representage of the original Zenith Cairelli - Tipo CP-2.

 
 By: Bill : October 17th, 2016-11:36
This watch is surely going to please both novice and collectors. Great review of New Zenith Cronometro Tipo CP 2. Thank you. Bill

Very welcome, Bill! [nt]

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 18th, 2016-00:00

Wow! Great looking watch!

 
 By: blomman Mr Blue : October 17th, 2016-14:27
Very faithful to the original! Love it! Thank you for this report, Magnus! Best Blomman

You'll probably see it soon ;-) [nt]

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 18th, 2016-00:01

Looking forward to that! :) [nt]

 
 By: blomman Mr Blue : October 18th, 2016-01:34

Finally a great re-edition without a date window!

 
 By: nowhere man : October 17th, 2016-18:01
Bravo to Zenith for not "improving" a classic. It's also nice to see that it hasn't been super-sized. I believe I'll buy one.

Here we totally agree! [nt]

 
 By: amanico : October 18th, 2016-00:19

A gorgeous piece for sure!

 
 By: Makilla : October 22nd, 2016-13:28
But not so sure about collectibility. That "automatic" at 6 o'clock is killing the vintage charm of the watch IMHO. Why not a simple CP2 instead? Being automatic is easier to wear on a daily basis and not worry about winding it every other day. Thanks for... 

Thx, Magnus for this "News"-Report !.. Am quite attracted by this re-edition, but ..

 
 By: hs111 : October 23rd, 2016-04:12
.. + 1 on Nico, feeling the wording "Automatic" superfluous & disturbing for me. - The Auto itself I treat more of a possible advantage; - luckily there is no date.. You mentioned price "below" 10k, and I do know we don\'t discuss prices here, but : - mor... 

A few answers...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : October 23rd, 2016-12:58
The price will be somewhere in the middle. I agree on the \'automatic\', but here I would ask for your patience... ;-) Likewise with a few other details!