Ornatus-Mundi
[Zenith]
7136
What is your take on the El Primero HW /Prime?
My first 'serious' contemporary mechanical watch was a Zenith Prime (aka El Primero HW ).
It came in an absolutely classic stainless steel case and a doomed finely silvered dial which afforded for considerable visual attraction.
The watch was driven by the hand wound calibre El Primero 420 , a very close sibling to its famous brother (congratulations, Magnus, to this magnificent sentence...). Fit and finishing were exactly as with the latter.
Back then in the 1990s, Zenith's Prime was considered an entry model. However, as a student I had to stretch a lot to make this one happen.
With only a mineral glass covering the back as a token of its affordable position in the Zenith range, the watch otherwise represented a remarkable value for the money.
But where to put it now? Would you rather consider the Prime a more frugal, stripped-down version of a famous movement (for which the missing but clearly hinted automatic gear train/rotor is an indication), or would you consider this a separate entity? After all, it allows for flatterer watches but still shares the groundbreaking (and extremely precise) 36.000 bph escapement with the other El Primeros.
Moreover, looking forward the the future, would you welcome such a 'hand-wounded' version in Zenith's collection? And if so, what would be your preferences?
- an El Primero HW '2.0'?
- a dedicated development?
- position: more affordable/equal/premium?
Thanks and cheers,
Magnus
P.S.: I eventually sold the watch in favour of an entry level haute horlogerie watch from one of the two big groups. Comment of a former world-renowned independent service watchmakers for IWC/Lange: 'my condolences'. He was right: the watch I traded it for caused nothing but troubles...
This message has been edited by Ornatus-Mundi on 2014-05-06 11:43:06
More posts:
What is your take on the El Primero HW /Prime?
My first 'serious' contemporary mechanical watch was a Zenith Prime (aka El Primero HW ). It came in an absolutely classic stainless steel case and a doomed finely silvered dial which afforded for considerable visual attraction. The watch was driven by th...
A worthy option, but not for me.
Hi Magnus, Thanks for these images and thoughts on a curious reference from Zenith's history. I feel that the value in this watch comes from the joy of owning an El Primero that works like the classic Cal. 400 but allows the best display back view of the ...
Thanks for your perspective, Tim, yes, I also think hand wound calibres...
are a great platform for finishing. They do out this to great effect only if designed as hand wound calibres from start, I guess. Best, Magnus P.S.: no argument at all with your last sentence ;-)
Iconic
It is unfortunate, but Tim puts it very well. I say unfortunate because of what others have said about Zenith, ie that Zenith has no iconic watches to boast about, just an iconic movement. Although I disagree with this, there is no arguing what Zenith is ...
Its a kid of its time, thus the industrial look...
I would not be too harsh with the Cal. 420, particularly in respect to finishing. In fact, when the movement was in active production Zenith had only few movements with more than a little decorative finishings (I think the only ones were the Chronomasters...
Funny coincidence ...
... Since my first serious mechanical watch, too, was a Zenith, and it, too, was from that "Class" series, it, too, had the white dial and the mineral crystal on the back, I, too, was still a student (well, I was just a post-graduate) and I also had to st...
Now that you mention it I remember...
the winding feeling and of course the pusher actuation - the two characteristics rather on the rough side compared to others (e.g. - of course! - the Lange Datograph and the Piguet 1185 (both admittedly in a difference league)). As for the frugal appearan...
