While the watch is not without fault, the recreation of this dial creates a pretty big blind spot in recognizing them. I’ll just come right out and say it, I found this dial stunning when I first saw the images. It’s worth noting that none of these employed the use of any faux aging, rather they’ve been produced as they would have looked when produced in 1969.įollowing additional dial options and a few Limited Editions, finally the A385 was revealed just this year, a little late for the anniversary, but a welcome release nonetheless. The Revival was true to the original in its form, and each additional model has followed suit, including the A384 which also came in 2019. This watch uses a more traditional round case with the iconic tri-tone overlapping registers dominating the dial.
#ZENITH CHRONOMASTER REVIVAL EL PRIMERO A385 SERIES#
The Revival series kicked off in 2019 with Zentih celebrating the 50th anniversary of the El Primero, beginning with the A386. The A384 and A386 weren’t short on drama, either, but the A385 hit differently, embracing its era with confidence. The A385 was perhaps the most dramatic of the bunch, boasting a smoked brown gradient dial under pure white registers. The trio pays homage to the original references of the same names first released in 1969, featuring Zenith’s El Primero in the push to release the first automatic chronograph alongside Seiko and Heuer/Buren/Brietling/et al. This is horological history embodied.Prior to the big reveal of their all-new Chronomaster Sport, Zenith quietly revealed the A385, the third reference of the Revival series, joining the A384 and A386. Also available on a brown leather strap, the A385 is an almost perfect reproduction of the 1969 model. Why mess with perfection? Radial brushing on the case gives the A385 a brilliant look and blends effortlessly with the ladder steel bracelet with its hollowed links that provide a deceptively airy feel on the wrist. Prominent pushers stick out to control the El Primero movement – nearly unchanged in 52 years. Whereas the A384’s panda dial bridges the gap between vintage and modern, the A385’s warm, gradient brown dial and white subdials combine for an unmistakably traditional appearance. With its uncommon 37mm case size and tonneau shape, the Zenith A385 matches its recently reissued cousin, the A384.
Viewed now, few watches look as “sixties” as the El Primero and today’s reissue – the Zenith El Primero A385 – adheres to many of the design principles that made the original so iconic. Engineering mastery aside, the El Primero was also a touchstone of the times. The El Primero movement from Zenith was arguably the most technically innovative of the bunch thanks to its column-wheel architecture and incredible 36,000 oscillations/hr operating frequency. Generating spring tension via the motion of a rotor spun by the wrist’s natural movement, automatics were as much a leap forward from hand-wound mechanical movements as watches were from clocks or – for that matter – clocks from sundials. It was in that year that not one, but three watch companies – Zenith, Seiko, and a consortium of Heuer/Breitling/Hamilton/Dépraz – introduced the world’s first automatic movements. Turning the clock back to 1969 reveals the heart of modern watch making.
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