Ornatus-Mundi's post highlights the Zenith El Primero Stratos SpinDrift Black DLC, a robust chronograph dedicated to the SpinDrift Team. This article explores the watch's distinctive design elements, from its dark DLC coating and Kevlar dial to subtle color accents and ergonomic features. Ornatus-Mundi provides a detailed visual tour, emphasizing how light interacts with the dial's texture and revealing hidden details.
Today here in Vienna we enjoyed a fantastic day with lots of sun and temperatues well above 15°C, so we seized the opportunity to get thoroughly ventilated - watches included. Thanks God
Zenith's Miss R was available, and with her a perfect companion for such a plan: The
Zenith El Primero Stratos SpinDrift cloaked in dark DLC:
The Stratos SpinDrift is a watch like custom-made for such an exercise, rugged, large, resistant. Plus, it is dedicated to a very successful trimaran equipe, the
SpinDift Team, partner of Zenith, under the lead of
skipper Yann Guichard.
Technically a pure El Primero Stratos, the DLC coating on a 45mm brushed steel case gives the watch a gun-metal like appeal. Everything is dark and mysterious about this piece:
Black is beautiful, at least as long as
kevlar is concerned. The entire dial is made of this, giving us the well-known woven cloth-like structure.
On first view, the dial seems to be pure tone-sur-tone, and this very, very dark... Even the indices as well as the hand carry
black SuperLuminova SLN C1!
A sudden sunray, and all this might change dramatically: the textile structure (reminescent of kevlar's production process) of the dial comes truly out; this is one of the immediately recognisable characteristics of kevlar.
But this is certainly not all that we see! Many more details come to the fore, and some sparsely used
accents of colour as well:
Did you notice the three
heat-blued screws around the escapement opening on the dial? The image above highlights them as well as possible. With forms and elements brought on stage through the light, the same happens also with the depth of the dial. The carefully carved out subdials, the index blocks as well as the shape of the hands now can be fully appreciated:
The same is true with the opening itself, particularly with the bezel around it. The restrained 'SpinDrift Racing' inscription on the chapter ring does not disturb, in fact I really like the way it has been implemented. It is there, it is aesthetically pleasing, yet with no intention to dominate. Well done!
The dial bezel, like with all Stratos watches, is slightly
concave which is an interesting and unusual choice with watches.
Soft rims still provide secure grip, even with gloves. Every 5 minute we find a more rounded, wider rim, allowing for some basic tactile feedback.
Zenith decided to integrate
large, rectangular pushers on the Stratos. I can only congratulate them as this choice has many tangible benefits. For starters, it provides sufficient real estate to operate the pushers, which I think is a relevant detail if you use the watch while doing sports, wearing gloves or else. Furthermore, at the same time they serve as crown protectors, which again is an advantage in the very same situation as before. Finally, they contribute significantly to the precise and smooth pusher feel. I compared many El Primeros, and can conclude that there is something with the Stratos watches with sets them apart (and on top) of the others watches Zenith offers.
A glass back allows to admire the movement. Quite a contrast to the DLC-coated steel around, isn't it?
This Stratos is driven by a Cal. El Primero 4061, which is a standard El Primero with silicon escapement.
A final detail I noticed was the strap which is specific for this (and a few other limited edition) watch: the Stratos SpinDrift is secured with a black
rubber strap with Nomex® fabric coating. Nomex® is a flame-resistant meta-aramid material developed in the early 1960s by DuPont. Its widely used as protective clothing material for race car drivers, fire fighters or military pilots.
So, here comes the ultimate truth:
Surely, the watch can't hide that it is a substantial 45mm wide. But I think it should not. The whole arrangement of very few colours, or luminosity effects, combined with subtle textures and a very 'metallic' exterior.
For me, the DLC-coated case is a real stunner. Usually only applied on polished cases, where is looks almost comically 'liquid'. But here it is this brushed cased where for the first time I have to admit: yes, an exterior coating makes sense.
It is exactly all those carefully selected and balanced details which make the watch such a
pleasure to wear. It does not advance horology, it does not innovate in a
technical, material or aesthetic sense. Still, it has substantial horological competence packed inside (El Primero, silicon escapement, fairly contemporary materials) combined with a modern, but not trendy design. Its there as a tool, and very
reliable and charming one it is.
Thanks for reading,
Magnus
This message has been edited by Ornatus-Mundi on 2016-02-22 06:13:30 
