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