Beating inside is the same movement it would have had if it had been produced in 1969, the El Primero high-frequency automatic chronograph with column wheel. The dial dimensions are identical to the original A386 El Primero, as is the 38mm stainless steel case with pump-style pushers. To bring this prototype to life, it was only appropriate that Zenith produces it as a Revival piece, using the original blueprints for the A386 from 1969. The Chronomaster Revival A386 Manufacture Edition Zenith took the decision to create a new special edition – the Chronomaster Revival A386 Manufacture Edition.

The sub-dials did not feature the 3 El Primero colors we all know but 3 different shades of blue. In November 2018, Zenith made a magnificent find in the now-famous attic, a small box containing slightly rusty and very dusty El Primero dials that had never been seen before. Keeping his plans secret, Vermot hid all the El Primero’s plans and components in a walled-off section in the attic of the Zenith Manufacture. Charles Vermot, one of the original watchmakers who worked on the El Primero, took it upon himself to save the El Primero in the hope that one day, Zenith would bring it back. The story starts in 1975 when Zenith management decides to stop production of the El Primero, as the quartz movement was threatening mechanical watchmaking.

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