A Christmas present to myself!

[learningtofly]

Quite a while ago, I tried on a white dialled Daytona in the hope that I could see, or feel, the love for this iconic watch when it was on the wrist. Strangely though, I didn't, and I handed the watch back to the dealer assuming that this particular quest had come to an abrupt end. For some reason, however, it wouldn't quite subside; I blame Dan Pierce in part, with his gorgeous photos of various Tudor chronos. In fact, I was inches away from getting a big block not long ago, but - as if fate were looking down on me - I didn't quite get to the point where I could pull the trigger.

My thoughts turned to Zenith, and the historic El Primero movement. Most people will know that for many years Rolex used this movement in their Daytonas, albeit in a slightly modified form. What's less well known, though, is that the Zenith El Primero was actually the world's first automatic chronograph movement, and it was released on an unsuspecting world in 1969. Back then, it looked like this:



So, on to the subject of this post, then. The El Primero Striking 10th really was one of my very few grail watches, but at £7000 I couldn't ever imagine myself buying one. To find one brand new then, and at 50% discount, is simply unheard of; that's precisely what happened on Boxing Day and there was no way I could let the opportunity slip. Yesterday, therefore, I made the short journey into the West End of London and picked up my pride and joy.

What is effectively a reissue of this iconic watch has been made in limited edition of... yes, 1969! This one is actually number 644, and looking at the dial you can see that the original tachymeter has been replaced with a ten-second centre chrono counter. This is to reflect the 10 beats per second/36,000 beats per hour of the movement, and watching the chrono hand sweep around the dial in it's 1/10th of a second increments is a joy. In fact, the watch is a joy in it's entirety, and has taken me a step further in my collection of watches that - in one way or another - are icons.

Anyway, I'll shut up now, and let you enjoy the photos