Zenith

I believe this El Primero Chronograph Classic is playing its part in reviving the category of a dress chronograph at a reasonable price. Sure, Patek has its 5170, Lange has its 1815, VC has its Harmony, which are all dress chronographs, but they are 6 to 10 times the price of this watch. 

This Zenith El Primero Chronograph Classic is a watch that, by looking at it, simply does not belong in this era. It is clean, pure, relatively affordably priced for an in-house movement, and seems to throw the thinking that anyone who can only afford a USD8,000 chronograph is a practical person, therefore requires a date, out the window. Don't take what I just said there the wrong way – I just don't understand why there are a nice handful of high-end chronographs without a date, and yet everything in-house around USD8,000 has to have one. The great chronographs of yesteryear were born without a date and we all love them – and all the mega chronographs that we all aspire to own also don't feature a date. I think Zenith has done a wonderful job at producing a watch that punches above its weight class here simply due to its simplicity.