Zenith

A massive  piece of history in a modern watch

 

Ordered it about 8 months ago and it arrived this week. 
Right from the start I wanted this piece. Owning El Primero's and Elite movement watches a 5011 was a dream. In the past I thought about it several times.
Why not a pocket watch ? Well, because I'm not interested in pocket watches. So buying a pocket watch with a superb movement but knowing I would never 'wear' it was
not the smartest thing to do. Than we have these marine deck clocks. Again, a niece thing but if I can't wear it ...

Somewhere around march of this year I heard a rumor about a wristwatch which would be powered with the legendary 5011.

Now that was interesting ! An option to finally have this historic movement.

Soon pictures followed, and things even got better. The watch looked fabulous.

Than you read more about the size. 57.5 mm. Well I knew the movement so it had to be huge. If the movement measures 50 mm you can't put it in a 42 mm watch, right ?
But let's be honest, 57.5 is big and probably too big. Can you wear such a watch ?
2 years ago I tried the Panerai Egiziano (PAM341) and that was just too big and unwearable, I have bigger than the average wrists but 60mm with long lugs was impossible.
So what about the 57.5. One big advantage, the lugs are no so big as the Egiziano lugs.
When I put the Egiziano on my wrist, the watch (inclusive lugs) are wider than my wrist and that is imo not acceptable. But like said, the Type 20 lugs are completely different.

I saw , and of course tried the prototype at my AD and it felt fine. It was huge but I could wear it. Of course this is not a piece you want to wear on daily basis.
If it would be your one and only watch I would say 'Forget about it, buy something else. Maybe the Zenith Pilot big date'
On the other hand, if you know you will wear this piece on special occasions or only a few weeks per year than it is a superb addition to ANY collection.

 

 

A bit more about the movement.

"Originally designed for marine chronometers and deck watches in the 1950s, the pocket watch–size 5011 series is perhaps the most accurate series of movements the brand has ever produced,

and some were entered into the last chronometer competitions in the 1960s"

"The 5011 movement received an award in by the Neuchatel Observatory for being the most accurate chronometer ever.' Some extra details (from the zenith site) Technical data References: 95.2420.5011/21.C723 250-piece limited series Movement Calibre 5011K, hand-wound Total diameter 50 mm Thickness 10 mm 134 parts 19 jewels Cadence of the balance 18,000 vph 48-hour power reserve Chronometer-certified by the COSC Functions Central hours and minutes Small seconds at 9 o’clock Power-reserve indication at 3 o’clock Case Polished and satin-brushed grade 5 titanium Diameter 57.5 mm Water resistance 3 ATM Sapphire crystal caseback Dial Matt black with Superluminova-enhanced hands and numerals Strap Calfskin with hand-sewn topstitching, titanium pin buckle       So here are some pictures of what I think is a VERY nice and VERY collectible piece. .                                     Big ?   Yes it is but here  next to my friends AP Legacy  it seems to be acceptable

Bruno,

I'm following your quest for this watch since it started.

My deep congratulations for this major event.

I barely can imagine your emotions when you got it.

Cheers,

Nilo

Note: Wonderful pictures, as usual.

.... especially when looking at it next to the AP that i know. But looks interesting. Congratulations!

 

 

like said, please don't judge the picture and certainly not the lousy t-shirt  LOL

but I  think I can say the watch looks great on my wrist

 

... i don't know if its done on purpose, but the position of your arms enhances the size of your forearm, making the watch look perfect on your wrist

Maybe because you ate soup as a child!



Fx

Looks great.

The wrist shot is not that bad. Of course the Zenith attracts the eyes.

Cheers

Nilo

I can still remember when you asked whether it was too big for the wrist. From the honest wristshot, and the honest answer is it certainly looks good on your wrist and does not appear too big at all. Thumbs up! Looks good actually. Congrats! Nice. On it's own it looks huge. On your huge wrist it looks perfect.

wow! you can definitely pull it off, in my opinion.  it is a gorgeous hunk of metal, but impossibly huge...or so i thought.  now i see it on you, and it looks fantastic!

chris

 

Imo it is very important how you take your own wristshot.

When putting your arm in front of the camera you focus too much on just the watch and doing so all watches look bigger. It's better if you put your hand in your pocket and ask a friend to take a picture. It will look different AND much better. Or do it like I did it, stand in front of a mirror and take a picture. The difference is amazing.

If you go to the better shoestore and you try on new shoes, what do you do ? You put them on and look down ? I hope not, this gives a wrong view. No you look for a mirror and want to see the frontal view and side view, no ?

 

Here are 2 examples

 

Your arm right in front of the camera ( imo the bad way)

 

 

here it definitely looks too big ;

 

Other option , in front of a mirror  (same watch and same person, but doesn't it look MUCH better ?)

And don't forget, this is how other people will see it !

 

 

you know it looks much better on MY wrist ... LOOOOOOL !!!!

 

 

[URL=http://images.imagelinky.com/1353269385.JPG][/URL]

..and it looks great. 

Really cool watch Bruno!

A real piece with historyt! Bravo, Bruno. Best, Nicolas PS: Pics to be credited to Zaf.

Finally the Aeronef landed in Belgium!



Congrats for this superlative watch, I'm sure that you will enjoy a lot this beautiful movement.

Fx

Big congrats on catching marvelous piece
Best
Damjan

putting a dual-y pick up truck next to an 18 wheeler... and saying, size seems ok!

Damn, I did not realize you bought the watch for yourself. Looked at pics mainly. My very sincere apologies to you. My opinion is just one in a storm. I will have to stop posting 'off the cuff' so much. Please enjoy your watch and take one man's opinion for what it's worth.

no need to apologize!

it would be a very boring world if we all liked and disliked the same watches. And I know that the size of this piece is an issue for some ( most) people. It is gigantic.

But for me the watch is so beautifull and the movement is so special that the size is less important. In a perfect world this could be the perfect watch if it was 45 mm (I would not go smaller for that kind of pilot watches. We don't want the IWC big pilot to be 39 mm , do we ?)

But as said before, this precious movement is 50mm so a 57 mm case was probably they only option. Without naming other brands, we saw quite a few +55 mm watches the last years but these were big because they thought it was cool to have a big watch . When you look inside you'll notice a  30mm mouvement so it only had to look big. In case of the Zenith, the size is justified.

And as a final note, what is wrong with an original B-Uhr from Lange, Laco, Stowa, IWC. Even Patek Philippe had a 55mm Pilot watch... I bet you all wouldn't mind to have the 55mm Patek ;-)

 

This Zenith Montre D'Aéronef is imo a top collectors piece, and on top of it  it's a great looking piece (personal opinion)

Today I wore it and it felt much more comfortable than expected. I'll wear this one quite often. I'm not interested in 'safe queens'. Watches are made to be worn, even the big ones 

This message has been edited by Bruno.M1 on 2012-11-19 09:33:00

and make excellent points for the size argument, and who knew such a Patek existed?! Thanks for such a kind (and interesting) reply Bruno. Your confidence in this piece makes me take a second and third look, and shows me what a real, individual collector collects. This message has been edited by Mostel on 2012-11-19 19:01:37

Many many congrats to you mate
Best
Imran

Your enthusiasm for this piece (and I have followed it over a period of how many months of your waiting) matches the size of this piece of art.

Reading your posts from before, I guess we all knew how you were in love with this piece and we're all just too happy that it has arrived!

i can only imagine how you must have felt when somebody from the forum posted his piece first when you were probably one of the early birds to have ordered it. hehehe.

well, congrats Bruno. the movement pics are amazing, btw.

and yeah, you can pull this off easily. looks great on your wrist.

And what amazing clear pictures!  It looks great on your wrist and I am surprised how similar in size it looks to the Legacy.   Its true about the angle of the photography, have you ever bought smart shoes while wearing shorts... Looks terrible even in a mirror!