Now at Cellini: The Zenith El Primero 36,000 VpH Classic Cars

El Primero 36,000 VpH Classic Cars

Technical excellence, a passion for timeless mechanisms and the emotional power of unique human adventures are all embedded in Zenith’s DNA. The manufacture has long chosen to associate its name and its expertise with the world of classic cars that shares these same values grounded in authenticity. 

Zenith will be at more than 50 classic car events this year.

This year, building on its many partnerships, Zenith will be joining thousands of passionate classic car enthusiasts around the world at more than 50 events. Whether devotees of high-speed thrills or fans of escape from daily routine, they love the finely weathered leather, the exceptional engines and the pure, sleek curves of legendary cars. Their passion is matched by the pleasure they feel at the wheel. The El Primero 36,000 VpH Classic Cars embodies and pays tribute to this prestigious world in which precision, reliability and endurance are expressed through sophisticated designs exuding timeless elegance.

Enduring Aesthetics

The legendary El Primero chronograph by Zenith is a peerlessly precise, high-performance emblem of first-rate mechanics imbued with an unmistakable sense of refinement. Dedicated to those with a penchant for elegant speed machines, the El Primero 36,000 VpH Classic Cars comes with a 42mm brushed steel case fitted with a fluted crown and two round pushers. Its face expresses strength and distinction on an anthracite dial featuring an engine-type finish and punctuated by three counters in the original anthracite, blue and light grey colors. Enhanced by a tachymeter scale, this iconic watch face features a slim red central sweep-seconds hand as well as luminescent facetted hands and hour-markers.

Exceptional Engine

Humming beneath the hood is a powerful and accurate engine: the El Primero 400B automatic chronograph caliber. Its fierce pace of 36,000 vibrations per hour, enabling tenth of a second display, along with its integrated column-wheel construction, hail from a legendary lineage: that of the world’s most precise series-made chronograph developed by Zenith in 1969. This 326-part movement wound by an oscillating weight adorned with a côtes de Genève motif drives central hours and minutes, small seconds, chronograph and date functions, while delivering a more than 50-hour power reserve.

Côtes de Genève decorates the anthracite dial.

Water-resistant to 100 meters, the El Primero 36,000 VpH Classic Cars watch circles the wrist of gentlemen drivers by means of a rubber-lined chestnut brown calfskin strap, fitted with a steel triple folding clasp.

Zenith is a brand that has been bringing style and substance to the wrists of watchmaking cognoscenti all over the world for more than 150 years. Founded in Le Locle in 1865 by a visionary watchmaker, Georges Favre-Jacot, the Manufacture Zenith gained swift recognition for the precision of its chronometers, with which it has won 2,333 chronometry prizes in a century and a half of existence: an absolute record. Having earned fame thanks to its legendary El Primero caliber – an integrated automatic column-wheel chronograph movement launched in 1969 and endowed with a high frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour that ensures short-time measurements accurate to the nearest 1/10th of a second – the Manufacture Zenith has since developed over 600 movement variations. 

Zenith remains one of a select group of traditional luxury watch brands to produce all its movements in-house, the industry’s ultimate token of quality. Engaged on several vintage territories such as classic cars, Zenith currently offers a collection of exclusive and ageless finely crafted timepieces designed for sartorially minded men and women. Zenith’s rich heritage, tradition, passion and pursuit of excellence reflect the legacy of its slogan: “Legends live forever.”