2011 Zenith El Primero Pilot Chronograph

[aboen]

First impressions…




- Excellent finished case, Beautifully brushed finished with subtle touches of high polished areas on the beveled lugs, between the lugs, pushers and crown.





- Highly legible dial enhanced by AR coating on both sided of the sapphire crystal.
- Easy to read date display



- Well-proportioned and good looking hands




- Great size at 42mm and 11.8mm thick, it’s smaller than my typical 44mm watches, but it has great wrist presence (to be honest, the smaller case size is actually refreshing)






- I dig how the caseback is secured to the watch case using four screws and cool looking flanges.



- The El Primero cal. 4002 movement looks great inside the case; I was expecting it to look small like many I’ve seen inside some of modern Zenith watch with large cases.



- Sexy as hell large crown and rectangle pushers.



- This Zenith gator strap are some of the best quality I’ve ever handled, I like the fact that Zenith utilized rubber as a backing material on the strap; it should prolong its life.



The not so good…
-They could have left the word “Automatic” off the dial (a pet peeve of mine)
-wish the water resistant were rated at 100m instead of 50m and a screw down crown would have been nice… I guess no swimming with this one.

In conclusion:
Great value considering you get a very nicely finished great looking watch with a legendary in-house chronograph movement. These current Zenith watches are such a great deal; most of the entry level pieces are priced about the same or less than many Mid/high end brands that utilizes pedestrian ETA or Valjoux movement. (Not a knock on ETA or Valjoux...I’m actually a fan)
I see great things coming from Zenith currently and expect even more so in the next few years.


Drew

[y_teja]

Congratulations, a nice piece indeed! Could you share what is the accuracy & power reserve? Thank you.

[ducatidoc]

Great-looking watch Drew. Thanks for sharing.

[FeelingTheBlues]

Thank you for that review, I also really like that picture of the watch with your leather jacket.

[aboen]

Originally Posted by y_teja

Congratulations, a nice piece indeed! Could you share what is the accuracy & power reserve? Thank you.

Zenith El primero movements are known as some of the most robust and accurate mechanical movements around, Zenith has won over 1500 precision award to date and won many observatory chronometer competitions, the accuracy on my pilot chrono is no exception; it’s been spot on.
PR on paper is 50 hours but I’ve been getting around 55 hours.

[L-16610]

a great watch
congratulations

[dysondiver]

thats the first chrono id actually like to own , very smart , good health to wear it.

[GL08]

I love it, wish it came with a whie dial.

Question: what does it mrsp for?

[aboen]

Originally Posted by GL08

I love it, wish it came with a whie dial.

Question: what does it mrsp for?

Not sure how I feel about a white dialed pilot chrono...could work...maybe ??

When I got mine the MSRP is $5800 with the recent price increase its $6250

[htc8p]

i like it very much! congratulations! my main problem, before getting one is how tough is it? the screws and the crown and pushers look very fragile.

compare it to say rolex datejust or gmt master (with screw in crown, true wr 100m never afraid of water)

i really want to get the el primero as my next watch but those are my hesitations. btw is this to be treated as a dress watch or a sports watch?

[timlaw]

great watch and pictures. thanks for sharing. that is one of the first zeniths I have liked for a very long time. my 2001 el primero rainbow flyback is still one of my very favourite watches. wear it in good health.

[GL08]

Originally Posted by htc8p

i like it very much! congratulations! my main problem, before getting one is how tough is it? the screws and the crown and pushers look very fragile.

compare it to say rolex datejust or gmt master (with screw in crown, true wr 100m never afraid of water)

i really want to get the el primero as my next watch but those are my hesitations. btw is this to be treated as a dress watch or a sports watch?

Good question, I think it can be dressed up or down, its almost like a casual dress watch imo.

What do you guys think.

Btw, in terms of the white dial, I think it would be awesome with gold hands. :) lol.

[htc8p]

i think is more like a datejust. can be used for both. but i think its more fragile that the dj

[aboen]

Originally Posted by htc8p

i think is more like a datejust. can be used for both. but i think its more fragile that the dj

It certainly is not a dive or ultimate sports watch but wouldn’t call it fragile either.
My brother has own a Zenith class 4 (like the pic below) for 12 years without a single hiccup, he bought used and he’s not sure how old the thing is or when the last time it was serviced, wears it daily as it’s his only watch, the thing just keeps on going and still keeps excellent time. He did promise me that when it finally takes a dump on him he’ll give it to me to get it repaired and he’ll just buy a new watch to beat up for another decade or two…dude’s definitely NOT a WIS.

Pic from the net...not sure whom to credit.

[dddrees]

Nice looking watch, thanks for sharing.

[aboen]

Looks great with a leather nato strap also (IMO only of course)

[timlaw]

here's a picture of my 2001 el primero rainbow flyback.

[aboen]

Originally Posted by timlaw

here's a picture of my 2001 el primero rainbow flyback.

Great wristshot, Tim

[psv]

Good stuff, Drew. Thanks for sharing. I really like this one, perhaps the hour markers could have been a thinner and/or shorter, but overall - great piece and great value!

[Bobble]

I like that

[Captain Kirkwood]

It looks fantastic on the leather nato! And your pics are great.

"AUTOMATIC" doesn't bother me but I think "PILTO" should definitely go. And I could probably do without "36,000 VpH."

When I tried it on in person, I didn't like how close the dial sits to the crystal. I'm used to little more distance between them (I guess a taller flange). I also thought the luminous markers looked a little too plasticky (for lack of better word).

But I really do think it looks great on you, especially with the leather nato... killer look IMO.

[TSW]

One of the best looking ones from their newest collection, Congrats Drew!

[cedargrove]

Very nice watch. I think my next will be a Zenith. This is among my favorites. I love the polished chamfers.

[eric23]

Great Review and photos! I want to get a Zenith someday!

[warren G.]

Thanks for the review and that is a nice watch. Many congrats..

[Andad]

Originally Posted by Captain Kirkwood

It looks fantastic on the leather nato! And your pics are great.

"AUTOMATIC" doesn't bother me but I think "PILTO" should definitely go. And I could probably do without "36,000 VpH."

When I tried it on in person, I didn't like how close the dial sits to the crystal. I'm used to little more distance between them (I guess a taller flange). I also thought the luminous markers looked a little too plasticky (for lack of better word).

But I really do think it looks great on you, especially with the leather nato... killer look IMO.

[ducatidoc]

Originally Posted by timlaw

here's a picture of my 2001 el primero rainbow flyback.

For 2010 ( and one year only ) they updated the rainbow flyback with a much larger (46.5mm) case, slightly different color scheme, screw-in pushers, rubber strap and different bezel. Most guys didn't like it, and they discontinued it rather quickly, but not before I grabbed one of the few that came into the US. It sees more wrist time than any of my other watches and is accurate to +1 sec/day if I keep wearing it.

[brkanand]

A simple and a very informative review. Helped me to show more respect to this brand now onwards. Thanks for sharing!

[Maxtor]

Great looking watch. Enjoy.

[Submarino]

Originally Posted by aboen

Looks great with a leather nato strap also (IMO only of course)

Great review. Looks amazing with the leather NATO strap. Not my cup of tea with the alligator strap.