Zenith: The Legend of El Primero

The birth of the El Primero watch

An emblematic movement of the Zenith house, El Primero was developed in 1965, in preparation for the brand's centenary. At that time, the Swiss watch industry was undergoing a major transformation, faced with the emergence of quartz watches that threatened traditional mechanisms. Manufacturers had to adapt to survive, in a context of fierce competition between players such as TAG Heuer, Breitling, Hamilton-Buren and Zenith.

January 30, 1969, El Primero was born and marked a turning point in the history of watchmaking. This automatic chronograph running at high frequency (36,000 vibrations per hour) offered unmatched precision, measuring time to the nearest hundredth of a second; twice as precise as a conventional chronograph.

El Primero faces the quartz crisis

However, in 1975, faced with the quartz crisis, Zenith decided to finally stop production of El Primero. This period marked a major turning point in the watch industry, with the massive arrival of quartz watches, which were not only much more affordable but also more accurate than traditional mechanical watches.

These were mainly produced by Asian companies and quickly flooded the market, causing a real crisis in Swiss watchmaking, where many manufacturers had to close or restructure.

It was then that Charles Vermot, with the help of his brother, decided to resist and took the initiative to secretly hide the plans of El Primero to preserve their watchmaking heritage. They would then hide tools, stamps, and technical files of this caliber, at workshop no. 4 in Ponts-de-Martel. This act of resistance will save Zenith's watchmaking heritage, allowing this revolutionary technology to survive for future generations.
 

The rebirth of El Primero

In 1980, as interest in Swiss mechanical watches began to revive, a major order was placed by Rolex which finally convinced Zenith to restart production of this legendary chronograph, now recognized as an essential model. After making nearly 200 modifications to the original model in order to meet the new specifications and requirements of the brand with the crown, the caliber 4030 was born. It was finally 9 years later, in 1989, that El Primero returned to the market, ready to conquer a new generation of luxury watch lovers through various collections, combining classicism and sportiness.

After the years 2000, Zenith continues to explore creative watchmaking solutions while evolving the El Primero towards new complications. 2003, the brand unveils the Chronomaster Open, a watch that partially reveals the beating of the El Primero caliber through an open dial. This is the first time that a chronograph has revealed the regulating organ and escapement in such a bold way.

Then, the following year, Zenith once again demonstrated its mastery with the launch of the El Primero Tourbillon, the world's first high-frequency tourbillon watch. This technical feat was part of a series of innovations, with complications such as the minute repeater, alarm, dual time zone, world time, split-seconds chronograph, perpetual calendar and many others.
 
Later, in 2017, Zenith unveils the DEFY El Primero 21 with a new El Primero caliber beating at a phenomenal 50 Hz for a chronograph function accurate to 1/100th of a second. It is the world's first and only high-frequency, 1/100th of a second, mass-produced automatic wristwatch.

In 2019, for the 50th anniversary of the El Primero movement, the house chose to offer a 50-year warranty for a selection of its anniversary models and limited editions; adapted to the first automatic chronograph ever made (El Primero). 

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