One of the world’s most recognized and sought after luxury watch brands is Zenith Watches. The recent addition of the annual WorldWatchReport, which is based on reports of anonymous consumer searches on Google, Bing, Yandex, and Baidu, found that Zenith is the third most searched brand behind IWC and Patek Phillipe. Zenith accounted for 11% of the demand. Zenith’s innovative and desired designs get a new contender this year in the one of the brand’s newest pieces, the El Primero Chronomaster 1969. Zenith’s position as one of the world’s most searched watch brands is certainly helped by the addition of this timepiece to the brand’s collection.
Zenith is a Swiss Watchmaker
The three most searched watch brands, IWC (23 % share), Patek Philippe (16%), and Zenith (11%), accounted for 50% of all of demand for high-end watch brands. Part of this demand is due to the rise in demand from Chinese consumers. China has the highest digital demand for watches, overtaking the United States.
Zenith is a Swiss watch manufacturer that was started in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot. Known for their quality, Zenith is the winner of many watchmaking awards. Most recently the brand won the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix for Best Complicated Watch of the Year for their Christoph Colomb Equation of Time watch. In addition to the quality craftsmanship, Zenith has the distinction of being one of the few remaining Swiss watch manufacturers that still produces their own movements. One of the company’s most famous movements is the El Primero chronograph.
The El Primero chronograph, one of the first automatic chronograph movements, was initially released in 1969. This movement is characterized by it’s high positional accuracy, with 36,000 alternations per hour, compared with the standard 28,000 alternations. While being a newly designed watch, the El Primero Chronomaster 1969 is a nod back to that original release.
The new model features vintage-style round push buttons on the side. The design has an opening on the watch face that shows the El Primero movement at work. Water-resistant to 100 meters, the El Primero Chronomaster 1969 gives a nod back to the original 1969 model by retaining the three different colored counters and the red seconds chronograph hand on the watch face. The two 30-second counters at 3 o’clock are midnight blue and the 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock is anthracite. The watch is complete with an alligator leather strap.
Will the new El Primero Chronomaster 1969 cause consumers to search for Zenith at a higher rate or win awards like other Zenith models? Will this timepiece make it’s mark in the fastest growing market, China? It is too soon to tell. What is clear, though, that with this new piece Zenith gives a nod to it’s past while looking toward it’s future.
Zenith's El Primero Chronomaster 1969
From:Luxury Watches That Impress Review Blog
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