Finally saw the El Primero Chronomaster 1969 Tour Auto Edition in person

[maxtor71]

I'm an Omega man but I've long been following Zenith because I think their El Primero family is the business. Earlier this year I caught a glimpse of the Tour Auto Edition on Zenith's social channels, and I quite liked it. Now that I've seen it in person though, while it's a very nice watch, it's not the knockout that I was hoping it would be. If it was, I'd have happily walked out with it.

Doing a bit of research it seems Zenith does a few of these limited edition El Primeros, so I was wondering, if you had to recommend the best LE El Primero in recent years, which would it be?

Max

 

[dsio]

So glad you've asked, I've been wanting to say recently how much I'm absolutely in love with the new enamel dial El Primeros. There are two both with a glassy porcelain enamel finish and its just gorgeous, especially with the blued hands and white dial, love it to bits.

 

[dsio]

Some more pics from Zenith PuristsPro, so pretty

 

[persco]

dsio

So glad you've asked, I've been wanting to say recently how much I'm absolutely in love with the new enamel dial El Primeros. There are two both with a glassy porcelain enamel finish and its just gorgeous, especially with the blued hands and white dial, love it to bits.

I love this a lot. I don't really like the open hearts Zenith seems to put on many of its El Primeros...

 

[dsio]

Open heart is a bit of a gimmick, if you want to see metal spinning there's already a displayback on almost all El Primeros. Clean classic dials work so well on the EP.

 

[maxtor71]

dsio

So glad you've asked, I've been wanting to say recently how much I'm absolutely in love with the new enamel dial El Primeros. There are two both with a glassy porcelain enamel finish and its just gorgeous, especially with the blued hands and white dial, love it to bits.

dsio

Some more pics from Zenith PuristsPro, so pretty

Wow! Those are gorgeous, the only thing that bugs me is that date window - it's just so glaringly out of place IMHO. I don't suppose they do those watches without date? Do you know what those go for?

Max

 

[dsio]

Don't think there's a no date of that specific model but the date in that position is the traditional placement as used in the A386, the huge sized 42mm+ EPs (42mm doesnt sound huge but EPs have thin bezels so 42mm in an EP is far bigger than 42mm in a Moonwatch or Planet Ocean) have date at 6 but the off center position lets them make a smaller dial without obstructing the chronograph subdials.

 

[dsio]

BTW you seen these ones @LouS?

 

[maxtor71]

persco

I love this a lot. I don't really like the open hearts Zenith seems to put on many of its El Primeros...

dsio

Open heart is a bit of a gimmick, if you want to see metal spinning there's already a displayback on almost all El Primeros. Clean classic dials work so well on the EP.

Didn't mind the open heart in pictures but yeah, in person, it was one of the things that I didn't like on that piece.

Zenith had another great slate grey dial El Primero that I think they showed at Basel but that hasn't hit yet. Waiting to see that one next.

Max

 

[LouS]

I haven't seen these in reality. I'll have to take a closer look at that enamel dial, but I'm not likely to buy another 42mm - just too large for my liking

maxtor71

Wow! Those are gorgeous, the only thing that bugs me is that date window - it's just so glaringly out of place IMHO. I don't suppose they do those watches without date? Do you know what those go for?

Max

Max, the 4:30 date window is the opposite of out of place for a Primero. It's not only the traditional placement, it's also perfect to allow for large, readable subdial size. And the date is one of the Primero's salient characteristics, so you'll be hard pressed to find one without it.

maxtor71

Doing a bit of research it seems Zenith does a few of these limited edition El Primeros, so I was wondering, if you had to recommend the best LE El Primero in recent years, which would it be?

Max

For me It'd be between 2010's Striking 10th - the model that comes closest to being responsible for resurrecting Zenith after the Nataf debacle (plus a cool complication), and the New Vintage 1969 in steel for 2009, pictured center in the photo below. Honorable mention to the 2009 New Vintage 1969 in red gold and the 2010 iteration in steel.

Edited: Jul 7, 2015

 

[ELV web]

+1 for the Striking Tenth

 

[Stewart H]

LouS

Max, the 4:30 date window is the opposite of out of place for a Primero. It's not only the traditional placement, it's also perfect to allow for large, readable subdial size. And the date is one of the Primero's salient characteristics, so you'll be hard pressed to find one without it.

Actually, it is quite simple to find a Primero without the date - but it won't have Zenith on the dial and it wont beat at 36,000.

For me, if I was in the market for a recent Primero, it would be this year's Tribute to Charles Vermot - the Cal 410 iteration. The reason is that without him, we wouldn't be having this conversation.

... again, blagged from PuristsPro

 

[Alex_TA]

maxtor71

Doing a bit of research it seems Zenith does a few of these limited edition El Primeros, so I was wondering, if you had to recommend the best LE El Primero in recent years, which would it be?

I have Pilot, but I think that the best is Winsor.

Edited: Jul 6, 2015

 

[Fer Seamaster]

I do agree with with LouS: probably the best modern LE has been the 1/10th of a second, featuring a "modern" complication with historic colors.