Zenith

aboen
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Latest acquisition "Zenith El Primero Pilot Chronograph"

Liked a lot it in photos when it first came out, loved it in the metal, looks and feels awesome on my wrist...had to have it.

My First impressions…



- Beautifully brushed finished with subtle touches of high polished areas on the beveled lugs, between the lugs, pushers and crown.







- Highly legible dial enhanced by AR coating on both sided of the sapphire crystal.



- Well-proportioned and good looking hands



- Easy to read date display

- Great size at 42mm and 11.8mm thick, it’s smaller than my typical 44mm watches, but it has great wrist presence (to be honest, the smaller case size is actually refreshing)



- I like how the caseback is secured to the watch case using four screws and cool looking flanges.



- The El Primero cal. 4002 movement looks great inside the case; I was expecting it to look small like many I’ve seen inside some of modern Zenith watch with large cases.



- Sexy as hell large crown and rectangle pushers

- This Zenith gator strap is some of the best quality I’ve ever handled, I like the fact that Zenith utilized rubber as a backing material on the strap; it should prolong its life.



The not so good…
-They could have left the word “Automatic” off the dial (a pet peeve of mine)
-wish the water resistant were rated at 100m instead of 50m and a screw down crown would have been nice… I guess no swimming with this one.

In conclusion:
Great value considering you get a great looking watch, very nicely finished and historically significant in-house chronograph movement. These current Zenith watches are such a great deal; most of the entry level pieces are priced about the same or less than many Mid/high end brands that utilizes pedestrian ETA or Valjoux movement. (Not a knock on ETA or Valjoux...I’m actually a fan)
I see great things coming from Zenith currently and expect even more so in the next few years.