Absolutely on the money regarding the primacy . . .

Jul 19, 2014,17:08 PM
 

. . . of performance back when the El Primero was released, Magnus.  As you may recall, the New Vintage 1969 . . .



[watch credit: Dr No / image credit: Attila Aszodi]

. . . was the sports watch in my collection for a few years, a decision guided by respect for the movement and an appreciation for the aesthetics.  The melding of the iconic* A386 dial and Zenith's characteristic shaped case was overwhelmingly attractive to my eyes.  It immediately attracted my attention upon release in '09, and after much deliberation and hours of in-store assessment, made its way into my collection.

The first evening of wear was, however, an eye-opening experience.  I'd previously only seen it during daylight hours, in a well lit dealership.  Walking out of my friend's restaurant onto the street, I gazed . . . and was unable to tell the time.  It was 6-ish, just getting dark, and the steel grey hour hand had been figuratively swallowed by the black chrono hours sub-dial.  It was at that moment I realized why the original A386 had been fitted with white hands: less pleasing to the eye, but more legible. 

An image of Nilo's specimen . . .




. . . to illustrate my point. 

Kudos to the designers at Zenith for endowing the current model with hands legible enough to stand out against the darker subdials.

Art

* iconic may be an overused word, but deserved in this context.



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Zenith Coffee House Tales (v): Revisiting an Icon - the El Primero 36'000 VPH 42 mm!

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : July 19th, 2014-08:14
In this and the upcoming Coffee House Tales Miss R and myself tried to revisit the two fundamentally different approaches 'current' Zenith has in respect to its heritage. Like in my report on the Zenith Type 20 "Extra Special" , we met at the CafĂ© Drechsl...  

Absolutely on the money regarding the primacy . . .

 
 By: Dr No : July 19th, 2014-17:08
. . . of performance back when the El Primero was released, Magnus. As you may recall, the New Vintage 1969 . . . [watch credit: Dr No / image credit: Attila Aszodi] . . . was the sports watch in my collection for a few years, a decision guided by respect...  

The New Vintage 1969 already carries many cues to the current design language...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : July 22nd, 2014-06:09
particularly the pronounced indices are already visible. Also the dial already carries much of the finer finish of the current collection but still the old layout (printing, dial overlaps). Dial concept an legibility are my pet peeves when it comes to ass... 

Old and new, both are appealing...

 
 By: jmpTT : July 20th, 2014-08:04
Your review does brings to our attention the difference between mechanical watches, then and now. The original version was a finely crafted necessity, while the modern iteration is a luxury watch with practical elements. As collectors, we tend to get stuc... 

Necessity vs. 'practical luxury' - I like that...

 
 By: Ornatus-Mundi : July 22nd, 2014-06:14
as well as your very well expressed assessment of dial design minutiae. These are exactly those little facets where a serious brand should distinguish itself. But why do you think the Piguet 1185 is superior here? Because the location of the seconds subdi... 

With the Piguet 1185, the two essential subdials are on the same axis!

 
 By: jmpTT : July 23rd, 2014-08:53
Put simply, locating the hours and minutes subdials on the same plane allows for additional design variations, without destroying the balance of the dial. The seconds subdial isn't *that* useful on the El Primero and the Piguet 1185 because it doesn't hac... 

Truly enjoyable read dear Magnus....

 
 By: Ares501 - Mr Green : July 20th, 2014-12:39
...if only I could take such shots on my brightest day :) Your great pictorial comparison once more showed allure and charm of vintage compared to new Sincerely Damjan

My favourite El Primero from the current production!

 
 By: blomman Mr Blue : July 22nd, 2014-03:07
Thank you for another great Coffee House report, Magnus! :) That is my favourite El Primero from the current production, but I think it's no big secret that I would prefer the vintage one.... ;) Best Blomman

Great review

 
 By: charlesnevers : July 23rd, 2014-12:56
This is the striking 10th version, but i think the same case and dial. You can see some details in this "macro" video I've made:

Your " coffee series " is like a good newspapers I love to read.

 
 By: amanico : August 4th, 2014-04:43
And I must say that I am VERY interested by this article. I have for a long time now, the idea to get the Vintage Chrono. Once I will get the Vintage, I am so convinced by the modern that I will certainly go for it, too. I love to play the modern / vintag...