Zenith El Primero Skeleton Hands-On Review

One of the more silent additions at Baselworld was the Zenith El Primero Skeleton . Silent because it did not come with the fanfare of a press release and was not featured in their PR material. This notwithstanding, I think that this watch is an immensely significant addtion to the line-up:






Zenith opted for a moderate skeletonisation, eshewing complete transparency in favour of a pronounced elaboration of key functional elements under the hood, i.e. under the dial (such as the date mechanism, the gears driving the hands etc.):



The result presents itself as a quite attention-grabbing but still highly legible watch. The cut-out dial was applied a matte grey surface treatment, on top we find the chronograph subdials in the tradtional Zenit El Primero colours as well as the brand's distinctive indices, again highly polished to achieve maximum contrast.

The Zenith logo is vapour-applied on the inner side of the sapphire crystal:
 


The chronograph hand is painted in bright red, and finds its counterpart in a red ring around the dial, separating the seconds/minute scale from the hours indices. It a bit like the famous Volkswagen Golf GTI red frame around the radiator grille - a very apt choice of association!



Red is also the sign of activity on the date, implemented as a coloured area beneath the skeletonised date ring. Surrounded by a polished frame, this strikes a nice balance between legibility, technical appearance and openworked details:

Nothing new on the back side, which of course is a very good sign if you spot an El Primero under the sapphire back glass:

Wearing it is a particularly enjoyable process. I have to admit that a fine shirt is probably not the best fitting option, but nevertheless, the watch shows a fine presence, is legible and full of fine detail work.



Its not my favourite Zenith watch this year, but I have to admit that I am very positively taken by it - more than I was initially ready to admit. It does not scream but instead uses all the skeletonisation work to the effect of enhancing a technical impression while still retaining a style wearable to many occasions.

With the El Primero Skeleton the brand finally reveals the hidden qualities of the El Primero movement and gives it a highly-appreciated new flavour. I for one welcome this very much, and I think this is certainly the defining watch for this collection.

And as always, my ceterum censeo: Zenith, please fix this awkward subdial arrangement which makes the minute counter unusable for almost a full quarter of its scale. It's an easy change, and with the 'Classic Cars' model you have proven this year that you know it ... ;-)

Cheers and thanks for reading,
Magnus
_____
Addendum 25 August 2016: In the meantime I am sure that this is part of the standard 'El Primero Sport 36,000 VPH' collection. As such it has 100m water resistance and a diameter of 45mm. All these details are corrected now in the text above!