Watch brands don’t get much hotter than Zenith is at this moment in time. The Swiss watchmaker, long a favorite among hardcore enthusiasts for the role its El Primero movement played in ushering in some of the first-ever automatic chronographs in 1969, has recently broken through into the mainstream, achieving explosive growth over the past couple of years as customers are now confronted with waitlists on the brand’s most popular models.
Today, Zenith’s unbelievable hot streak continues with a new collab with HODINKEE, the brand’s second in six years. The latest is a seriously attractive take on the already-stunning vintage-styled Chronomaster Original. The 38mm chronograph sports the same stainless steel case, three-link bracelet, and 1/10th of a second chronograph El Primero Automatic Caliber 3600 movement as Zenith’s other Chronomaster Originals, but the dial here is anything but normal.
Working in conjunction with HODINKEE, Zenith has given the Chronomaster Original a Matte Salmon Opaline Dial complemented by a color-matched date window at 4:30 and Zenith’s classic tri-color chronograph subdial arrangement. But instead of the usual blue and gray mix we’re used to seeing, here the subdials are represented by three different shades of gray, bringing an interesting amount of depth to what’s usually thought of as a rather bland color. The 100-second track around the dial matches the darkest gray of the registers, while the 1/10th of a second outer track matches the salmon dial.
We don’t see the market for Zenith’s watches cooling down anytime soon, especially not after this collab. The Zenith Chronomaster Original Limited Edition for HODINKEE is limited to 300 pieces and is priced at $9,500.
