The Breitling Watch Blog

Lots of amazing watches released at SIHH 2012 this year… with a fabulous lineup from Panerai as well as some very cool new offerings from Audemars Piguet and Cartier as well. One of my personal favourite pieces is the Chronomaster 1969 watches from Zenith. In particular, I really dig the standard Chronomaster 1969 Chronograph. This bad boy has a nice open heart dial and uses with very cool vintagey looking 1969 case.

I like my Chronomaster just fine, but this 1969 version has some understated, classic lines that just really call out to me. I will be buying one of these in the near future – just a matter of time!

Specs:
Movement El Primero 4061
Components: 282
Jewels: 31
Frequency: 36,000 VpH – (5 Hz)
Case: Stainless steel
Diameter: 42 mm
Crystal: Box-shaped sapphire crystal with anti-reflection treatment on both sides
Case-back: Transparent sapphire crystal

Zenith continues to direct their styling back to the Classic stuff they did, and away from the Defy and Chronomaster designs which defined the company during the last few years. This is refreshing after seeing some overly crazy looking designs from the firm.

The Captain comes in a 40mm stainless steel or in 18kt rose gold with display back showing off the Zenith Elite 670 movement.

I was browing in my latest issue of Watch Time magazine, and noticed a new Zenith El Primero watch called the Striking 10th Chronograph, which has a new 1/10th second Chronograph timer. In addition to the remarkably accurate chronograph, the watch returns to Zenith’s roots as far as Style. While this is not new for companies such as Breitling and IWC as they have re-released vintage watch designs, this is a drastic change of direction for Zenith, who went the complete opposite direction by dropping their old style completely when they went with the Chronomaster and Defy watches.

See the video!

I love Zenith watches. The Defy watches, the Chronomasters, everything. The Academy watch is Zenith’s premier line, and the Academy Zero-G Tourbillion is the lastest addition. Using the Caliber 8801 El Primero Tourbillon movement, this watch beats at 36,000vph, and offers a 3-Dimensional Tourbillon cage. Platinum rotor and 160-part gyroscopic carriage are just some of the features.

With this model Zenith rotated the movement 45-degrees to to place the Tourbillon Cage at 4:30 and the Time at 10:30. This gives the watch a very nice offset look.

Jean-Frédéric Dufour is the new President and CEO for Zenith SA as of June 1, 2009. Philippe Pascal, LVMH President, named Dufour the new Zenith President and CEO and comes to Zenith since being at Chopard since 2001. He replaces Theirry Nataf, who held the position previously.

Zenith has undergone a large number of changes since Nataf took over so it will be interesting to see what kind of direction the company takes under the direction of Dufour.

This is a video review of my Zenith Defy Classic Power Reserve watch. I love this watch, and didn’t realize that I would really love it as much as I do. Looking through all the Defy series of watches from Zenith, the majority of them looked very cool, but perhaps too cool. The Defy Extreme series of watches look amazing, but they also looked like a sophisticated analog version of a Casio G-shock at the same time, which takes away from the class.

The Defy classic lines are just crazy enough, without being off the charts, and look fantastic. I think the 43mm size of the Defy Classic Power Reserve is perfect, and with the added power reserve complication it is a nice touch. The Zenith Elite movement is also very nicely done and has the unique ability to move the date forwards as well as backwards. Enjoy the review!

I’ve always loved Zenith watches, and their Chronomaster series looks fanastic, though the Defy series is where my heart lies. Zenith released a new model a week or so ago with some amazing looking visuals!

Utilizing the venerable El Primero movement, this new Venice Edition of the Zenith Chronomaster is outstanding. It uses the Caliber 4021 from Zenith, which beats as an extremely accurate 36,000vph.

Visible throught the sapphire caseback is the 22 karat gold oscillating weight mounted on the rotor. The dial is Guilloche with a Venice Lion patters on both the dial and over the open heart. The watch is an extremely large 45mm in diamater, enough for even the most manly man! Water resistant to 30 meters. This watch is limited to 100 peices and is available in Rose Gold.

One watch that I’ve been wanting for a long time is a Zenith El Primero… not any specific one, just a larger 42mm+ watch with the high oscillating El Primero Movement. 36,000vph, highly accurate and beautiful, this movement was used in the Rolex Daytonas until the early 2000′s.

I’ve come across many Zeniths using this movement and still can’t decide on which one, though the Defy Classic Chrono Aero seems like it might be the ticket. Newly introduced at Baselworld 2007, this is probably my favourite of the Defy Classics, thought the Defy Extremes are very nice in my opinion.

http://forums.timezone.com/?t=rview&th=789760&goto=2550706

That is a nice watch.. and I can’t stop thinking that I should buy one! With increased pressure to purchase a “Full Ling” (nickname for a larger Breitlings with a 46mm or larger diameter) Its tough to decide what I should buy next… maybe it should be indeed a Motors T as I’ve wanted one for a while. But the El Primero keeps calling my name!