Zenith Revives Its 1969 Chronograph to Salute America’s 250th

A Swiss watchmaker wrapping a dial in the Stars and Stripes for a big American anniversary that might raise an eyebrow at first. Zenith gets a pass here, though, and we’ll explain why. The brand’s entire approach to building watches traces back to a 19th-century trip its founder took across the Atlantic, which makes the new Chronomaster Revival A384 Liberty II feel a little less like pandering and more like a thank-you note.

A Tribute That Cuts Both Ways

Back in the mid-1800s, Zenith founder Georges Favre-Jacot crossed the ocean and got a firsthand look at how American factories ran. Inspired by his trip to the states, he came home convinced that stacking every step of production under one roof was a much better approach than the scattered Swiss workshop system everyone else leaned on.

The result was Le Locle in 1865, the first fully integrated Swiss watch manufacture and a blueprint the industry eventually copied.

Red, White, and a Whole Lot of Blue

This timepiece serves as a sequel to the 2020 Liberty, and flips the recipe this time around. Where the original Liberty ran a blue dial with white counters, the Liberty II goes white lacquer with deep blue subdials.

But the detail everyone’s going to fixate on is the chronograph seconds hand, striped with 13 alternating red and white bands for the original colonies. Zenith also added a few extra details worth noting including the “250” on the tachymeter and the “4” on the date wheel, which both glow red with the latter winking at 1776.

The El Primero, Still Punching

Underneath sits the El Primero 400, a direct descendant of the caliber Zenith dropped in 1969 as the world’s first automatic integrated chronograph. It still runs at 36,000 vibrations per hour, good for timing to a tenth of a second, with 50 hours of reserve and a column-wheel layout you can peep through the sapphire caseback (engraved “America 250th Anniversary,” naturally).

There’s 2 different versions offered here. First off is the steel version, capped at 250 pieces to match the anniversary, which ships on Zenith’s Gay Frères “ladder” bracelet plus a blue rubber strap.

And the forged carbon edition is the wild card with just 25 examples that include marbled swirls across the case, and ships on a rubber strap only.

Spec Sheet

Pricing & Availability

Both editions are US-exclusive, which for once works in our favor. The steel Liberty II runs $10,600, while the ultra-limited forged carbon version commands $13,400. Head over to Zenith’s website to preorder.

Recap

Zenith Chronomaster Revival A384 Liberty II Edition

Zenith revives its 1969 A384 in red, white, and blue for America’s 250th, riding the legendary El Primero 400 and a 13-stripe chrono hand. Steel for the masses, forged carbon for the 25 who want bragging rights.

Learn More: Zenith