Ornatus-Mundi introduces the Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Night Vision, a BaselWorld 2015 novelty that stands out for its modern, dark aesthetic and innovative materials. His detailed photo essay highlights the watch's unique ability to play with light and its impressive technical specifications, offering a fresh perspective on Zenith's iconic El Primero movement.
With this post I would like to introduce another novelty Zenith presented in Basel 2015, the El Primero Chronometer Night Vision : very modern, very *dark* - mysterious:
The watch is essentially a permutation of all things black. Black - made tantalising through a cocktail of surfaces: shiny and matte, laying with or totally resorbing the light falling on it:
The case: The 'dark hole' of the watch, capturing but not releasing any light. The dial - the sparkling part, with mutating character depending on light influx (power, direction, colour...):
It is not only that. Light on the face really gains a notion of vividness - it has its own life, its own will, curtesy of the small details that make this dial stand out so much. Its a great pleasure to follow the flu of light around these many, adeptly executed fine little edges, corners and plateaus:
Another shot. I could spent hours to appreciate just how well Zenith designed the escapement opening. I know, this has the same shape as with all other open El Primeros, but the choice of a polished black rim around (with its dark glossy finish) is a very thoughtful one in the context of the overall design. Note also its
contre-point, the double date window, and its frame design.
The escapement parts are made of silicon, naturally.
This all comes into full play only because of the matte case (plus crown and pushers) is crafted from ceramicised aluminium. Its a very modern material with 6x the Vickers resistance compared to steel, thus extremely scratch proof.
Taking decent images of the back is a serious task itself. The matte finish simply appears to absorb any light hitting it. The image below demonstrates this...
... but a shot of the back does it even better: There is virtually no light reflected by the case and the bezel. The Cal.
El Primero 4068 (322 parts) literally takes the centre stage:
Zenith delivers the watch with a black rubber strap with Nomex fabric coating again playing with the light absorbing theme. The strap is quite supple and comfortable to wear.
I admit having not paid much attention when this watch was shown to me during the novelties presentation. But that changed the moment I strapped it on. It just popped on.
I think the choice of ceramicised aluminium as case material is a very wise one. Not only does it absorb all light, it appears to doe the same with the size as well. Imagine
this are 45mm:
Wow!
Clearly, Zenith created an imminently interesting watch. A watch which masters light through eschewing (almost) all colour and instead utilise surface structure and dial landscaping to create thrill and suspense. This conceptualisation deserves a second and third view, some time and a bit youthful disregard for conventions to be appreciated in full.
Kudos to Zenith for taking this less travelled road. The watch is a winner!
Thanks for reading,
Magnus
P.S.: the new
Chronomaster Night Vision will replace the former
Chronomaster Bullit (see shing's report
here ; that's where I have taken the image from). Both share the 45mm ceramist aluminium case - but what a
difference in appearance! In my view, a very well devised and designed successor.
This message has been edited by Ornatus-Mundi on 2015-04-19 09:48:53 
