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In the same year the Apollo 11 made history by putting the first man on the moon, a Swiss watch manufacturer launched a movement that would forever change the face of horology. One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” These are the now-legendary words spoken by astronaut Neil Armstrong, as he took his first steps onto the lonely transcendent surface of the moon in July 1969. It was a moment that symbolized the United States’ titular victory in the US-Soviet Space Race, which had begun in 1957 when the Soviet Union became the first nation to launch a satellite — Sputnik I — into space.

The entry of Sputnik into the previously unassailed realm of space was a shot across the bow, a moment of profound humiliation, and a call to technical arms for the United States. Despite its best efforts from that point onwards, the Soviet Union took a definitive lead in the Space Race, becoming the first nation to send a man into space and, again, the first to send a probe to the moon. This triple-tap of scientific triumph had the United States reeling against the rope like Muhammad Ali in Zaire… By 1961, both nations had set their eyes on sending a man to the surface of that celestial bod)’that prevailed insouciant and majestic in the night sky. Then President John F. Kennedy stated. “No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind… And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.” Indeed, what resulted was a maelstrom of scientific achievement and human daring that has never been replicated in history.

Armstrong’s lunar landing in July 1969 was a culmination of the hopes and dreams of a nation — a moment of redemption and total victory. Just six months before, another revelatory achievement had similarly embodied the hopes of a nation and culminated in a moment of total undeniable victory: Zenith’s creation of the world’s first automatic chronograph, the El Primero, became a testament to Switzerland’s enduring dominance in watchmaking at a time when watchmaking in Japan was beginning to gain momentum. And like the lunar landing achieved by the US, it encompassed a frenzy in scientific achievement and a blistering development pace that had been heretofore unknown.

Zenith began its ambitious project to create an automatic chronograph caliber in 1962 - - a caliber which they named ” HI Primero” for its status as the first of its kind. While the Swiss movement manufacture Lemania had experimented with automatic chronographs as early as 1946, this caliber was never successfully industrialized. The Zenith project is believed to have been initially considered for Zenith’s lOOth anniversary in 1965, but as more technical features were added, it became clear that development would take longer than this. Then, around 1967, Zenith caught wind of a simultaneous project with the same goal undertaken by Breitling, Hamilton-Buren, Heuer and Dubois Depraz. Simultaneously, word had spread of a

Japanese automatic chronograph caliber with a vertical clutch coupling system undertaken by Seiko. Determined to be the first to the finish, Zenith ramped up its development schedule, and the race was on. The inking chronograph had been created in 1822 by Nicolas-Mathieu Rieussec which, as its name implied, literally recorded time by inking a dial. At the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, the chronograph watch became one of the dominant types of wristwatches because of its ability to record elapsed time — as horse races gave way to modern automobile races, the chronograph became more popular, for it possessed an immense number of sporting and scientific applications. In the early 2Oth century, the chronograph became inextricably linked with science, sports and adventure.

A chronograph on the wrist instantly endowed the wearer with a rakish, adventurous air. While there had been many achievements in the development of the chronograph, such as the transition from a monopusher configuration to independent stop/start and reset pushers thanks to Breitling, by the second half of the 2Oth century, still, no one had created an automatic chronograph. But there was now, looming on the horizon, a huge incentive to create such a movement. In 1969, the Japanese company Seiko would unveil its Quartz-Astron 3SSQ, and Longines, its Ultraquartz Cybernetic — both based on principles first invented by Warren Morrison in the 1920s. Already, the industry had caught wind of the quartz movements — soulless battery-powered machines that could last for years without being wound, yet achieve unprecedented levels of accuracy.

The Swiss industry had to react for the implications of a cpiartz chronograph would shake the very foundations of Swiss timekeeping dominance. However, until this time, no one had successfully created an automatic chronograph, offering the ability to capture elapsed time that was fused with the practicality of a self¬winding caliber. In 1969, both Zenith, as well as the joint project by Breitling, Hamilton-Buren, Heuer and Dubois Depraz, unveiled automatic timewriters. But in all objectivity, the achievement by Zenith’s competitors was inferior in architecture.

Why? Because it consisted of a modular chronograph in which an automatic base caliber is mated to a module containing the chronograph functions. Why is this inferior to the integrated chronograph design of Zenith’s movement? Well, for two reasons: First, the modular design robbed the owner of watching the clutch system of the chronograph gear work switch on and off, which is one of the most delightful visual arias in chorology. In the modular design, the chronograph mechanism is sandwiched between the dial and the base caliber. Unlike its competitors, the 1969 El Primero movement, which is the direct predecessor to modern El Primero calibers, was created as an integrated movement — that is to say, it was created from the ground up as an automatic chronograph caliber. Thus, it offered certain advantages. A) Barrel (the watch’s fuel tank) Despite beating faster than any other commercially produced watch movement, the El Primero still has enough “gas” for more than 50 hours of power reserve. B) Escapement (a wheel that is like a tap that turns on and off the power supply to the balance at regular intervals) — The El Primero chronograph boasts the world’s fastest beating escape wheel. When it was created, special lubrication had been made specifically to cope with the watch’s high vibrational speed. C) Column wheel (the command center for all chronographs and the mark of distinction for all high end chronographs) This wheel rotates when the pushers are activated, allowing the fingers of the chronograph coupling arm to rest either on, or between the columns, resulting in either the chronograph engaging or disengaging. D) Balance wheel (the heart of the watch where its to-and-fro oscillations regulate the watch’s heartbeat) Zenith’s balance wheel swings faster than any other and divides time into small fractions.

The second reason for the superiority of the El Primero’s design is that a very large number of modular chronographs exhibit some idiosyncratic jumping of the hour, minute or seconds hand when the chronograph is rapidly switched on or off in succession — very possibly because they are harnessing the energy of a base caliber that was never intended to accept the load of an additional chronograph train. A comparison would be the utilization of a four-cylinder engine to suddenly power the two additional wheels of a four wheel-drive vehicle. Conversely, Zenith’s chronograph caliber is an integrated movement. The base plate of the movement (which acts like the frame of a car) is designed from the ground up to support a base caliber, as well as a chronograph train. The base caliber, from its large power supply to its record setting vibrational speed, is created to enable optimal chronograph performance.

How did Zenith create the El Primero? In a move not unlike the US co -option of German rocket scientists. Zenith purchased and absorbed a company named Martel that specialized in chronographs. But Martet did not have expertise in creating automatic winding systems, so the implementation of this in the El Primero can be credited to Zenith’s R&rl) team. In the process of developing its new chronograph caliber, Zenith decided to boost performance to an all -new level and achieve another benchmark in the advancement of horology. It would endeavor to create the first industrialized wristwateh that ran at 36,000 vph or 5 Hz. At this speed, the chronograph would be capable of dividing time to a never before -realized 1/IOth of a second. While many other watch manufactures have tried but failed to achieve this end, Zenithwas determined to succeed.

By implementing an escapement that ran at this speed, the El Primero would represent two mighty world’s firsts: the first integrated automatic chronograph, the first watch to run at 36,000 vph and the world’s fastest-beating watch movement. While its one motivation was certainly to create an intimidating technical gap between itself and its competitors, for Zenith, this unprecedented accuracy was also a pre-emptive strike at quartz technology. A faster vibrational speed also means a more stable wristwatch. To this day, watch engineers still discuss the merits of elevated vibrational speeds relative to large inertia balance wheels; but by common consensus, what is clear is that faster vibrational speeds offer greater stability, which is precisely why today’s companies, such as Chopard L.U.C, Ulysse Nardin and Audemars Piguet Renaud !& Papi, are in the process of experimenting with faster vibrational ’speeds. At the searingly fast S~hz vibrational speed found in the El Primero, the watch’s regulating organ achieves greater autonomy from outside perturbations, such as changes in position or shocks.

This high vibrational speed also serves to enable greater accuracy in Zenith’s tourbillons, as the balance wheel has greater automony from pertubations caused by movement or even small jolts commonly experienced in wristwatches. Similarly, a perpetual calendar’s movement experiences a certain load when all calendar indicators are powered by the movement to turn over at midnight. A movement with a higher vibrational speed will, theoretically, experience less drop in amplitude during this critical changeover period. The Zenith El Primero movement forms the base of all complicated Zenith waches, the world timer, perpetual calendar, forthcoming minute repeater and now-famous fast-beating tourbillon. The ancient warrior poet Sun Tzu believed that speed was the essence of victory in battle. Hence, in the battle of chronometric excellence across all applications, speed is similarly the key. But sustaining this speed was akin to smashing through the sound barrier, in that without adequate scientific development, it could result in disaster.

Excessive wear on escapement components was of major concern to the manufacture. It was quickly determined that traditional lubrication methods were inadequate, and a special new type of dry lubrication had to be created specifically for the El Primero. While many watch technicians have opined as to the amount of wear created by a movement that beats as fast as the El Primero — these same concerns propelled Rolex to detune the El Primero movements in its Daytona watches to 38,800 vph — in the end, history speaks for itself. Since its introduction, the El Primero has proven itself to be not just the most accurate industrialized wristwatch chronograph movement on the planet, but also a workhorse — a watch industry honorarium that describes a caliber that functions day in and day out, with little need for maintenance. When it was launched in January 1969, a full two months ahead of the modular chronograph created by its competitors, Zenith unveiled the most advanced movement of its era.

At the same time, the movement was a celebration of classic Swiss watchmaking, retaining the high-end imperialism of a column wheel controlling all chronograph functions — even as its competitors began to dispose of this costly component for cheaper switching cams. It would retain the traditionally laterally coupled clutch, while others embraced inferior oscillating pinions or vertical clutches that could not be serviced. Zenith would refrain from using plastic components as evinced in Valjoux’s 7750 or Lemania’s 5100 movements. The El Primero was, in dimension, far thinner than the modular chronograph of its competitors and achieved a mind-blowing 50 hours of power reserve despite its dizzying frequency. In fact, it would be more than a decade before Frederic Piguet would achieve a thinner movement — albeit one fraught with some initial fragility.

Today, Zenith’s El Primero continues to be the sole chronograph movement that is capable of dividing time accurately to 1/ioth of a second. Look into the aperture of Zenith’s ChronoMaster Open, which reveals an escapement mounted onto the first skeleton bridges ever integrated into a movement’s base plate, and you’ll witness more than a simple division of seconds, but the living testament to the vast heroism of a brand that stepped irrevocably outside of the box to write a new chapter in watchmaking history!. High quality Zenith El Primero replica watches are available at www.thewatchprofessionals.com