Vanity Fair UK - 10.2019

Exploded Watch

Zenith

CHRONOMASTER 2

Inside Story

Water resistance: 10 ATM

Case dimension: 42mm

Movement thickness: 12.75 mm

Movement components: 314

Power reserve: 60 hours

Movement frequency: 36,000vph

14

19

13

11

8 9

4

2

1

7

10

17

15

18

20

16

12

6

5

3

1. Oscillating Weight


2. Chronograph Bridge


3. Lateral Clutch Wheel Bridge


4. Intermediate Double Wheel


5. Chronograph Clutch Lever


6. Brake-lever Synchroniser
   for Chronograph


7. Column Wheel


8. Second Counter


9. Minute Counter


10. Click Wheel


11. Gear Train Bridge


12. Barrel Bridge


13. Balance Bridge


14. Hairspring


15. Barrel


16. Balance Wheel


17. Escapement Wheel


18. Main Plate


19. Date Disc


20. Date Corrector

Ahead of its time when it

was launched 50 years ago,

Zenith’s famous 36,000vph

El Primero calibre celebrates

its first half century with

what is being billed as

an optimisation of “latest

technologies and perfor-

mance algorithms” (always

a bit suspicious of algorithms

but we will let that pass).

What’s new is improved

power reserve (60 hours); an

easily read tenth-of-a-second

display on a scale with 100

graduations; a balance-stop

device; a reversal of the

crown sequence (the original

was counterintuitive);

improved column wheel;

and an optimised lateral

clutch that now includes two

intermediate wheels—about

time too. In other words; all

good for the next 50 years.

NICHOLAS FOULKES

100 VANITY FAIR ON TIME AUTUMN^2019