Often overshadowed by the iconic Omega Speedmaster and the Rolex Daytona - Zenith, whose pioneer status within the realm of chronographs is legendary - is perhaps finally poised to take its rivals head-on.īuilding on the El Primero, once again as a cornerstone of the Le Locle-based watchmaker, today, Zenith introduces the all-new 2021 Chronomaster Sport. It was the first automatic Rolex chronograph and was subsequently replaced by the caliber 4130 in 2000, which was Rolex’s first in-house chronograph, and is still in service today.

Nicknamed the “Zenith Daytona” it was featured Zeniths base movement that was heavily modified, including having the oscillation rate slowed down from 5Hz to 4Hz, and renamed caliber 4030.

Being the pioneer of the automatic chronograph, Zenith even sold its El Primero chronograph movements to Rolex, which powered its famed Daytona chronograph from 1988 to 2000. And in the 50 plus years following there have been many references powered by one version of the El Primero or another. While all of the chronographs were important to each brand, no watchmaker leaned on this development more than Zenith with their El Primero. Regardless of the exact timeline - each of the three automatic mechanical chronographs was introduced at some point in 1969. Whether the Zenith caliber 3019 PHC (El Primero), Seiko caliber 6139, or the Caliber 11 development consortium consisting of Heuer-Léonidas SA, Léon Breitling SA, Hamilton-Büren, and Dépraz & Co was the first automatic mechanical chronograph is debatable. Zenith is a storied Swiss watchmaker that produced one of the very first automatic mechanical chronographs, and aptly named it the “El Primero” which means first.

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