The Revival El Primero A385 hit my sweet spot within two seconds of finding the press release announcing it early this year. But only three out of ten votes for the A385, that really surprised me. My emotions toggled between being slightly outraged and completely disappointed.

Have you seen Mike’s recent TwoForTuesday article featuring the two new El Primero chronographs side-by-side? The new A385 suffered a shattering defeat, with the all-new Chronomaster Sport stealing 70% of the vote.

The question was would I enjoy the movement, proportions, and a bit of that 1970s flair as much live on my wrist? Let’s take it step-by-step. The case size, shape and finishing, the dial, and color mix. In the pictures, I liked everything about the Revival El Primero A385. Blame the Zenith Revival El Primero A385. Well, that number is going to increase slightly. I never realized that the latter represents less than 3% in my three-digit plus collection. Zenith-watches.For the purposes of this article, I counted all the vintage and modern timepieces in my collection. The Chronomaster Revival A385 is available at Zenith Boutiques and online shop, as well as at authorized retailers around the world. Light brown calf leather strap with protective rubber lining and a stainless steel pin buckle or “ladder” bracelet with stainless steel double folding clasp Price Self-winding El Primero 400 movement hours and minutes in the centre small seconds at 9 o’clock chronograph: central chronograph hand, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock tachymetric scale date indication at 4:30 50-hour power reserve Caseģ7mm stainless steel smoked brown gradient dial with white-coloured counters rhodium-plated hour-markers, faceted and coated with beige Super-LumiNova ®SLN rhodium-plated hands, faceted and coated with beige Super-LumiNova ®SLN water-resistant to 50m Strap/Bracelet While all of these references hold a special place in the horological history books for being the first watches to give life to the 1969 El Primero and, therefore, the first commercially available automatic chronographs, there’s a further claim that the A385 makes that is quite unique. The first watches that were used to bring the 1969 El Primero to market were the A384, the tonneau-cased Zenith legend the A386, the classic round faced Zenith chronograph, which has the indisputable claim as the face of Zenith today lastly, the lesser known, A385. To prove its case that Zenith had, not only managed a mechanical feat, but truly one that is a feat of watchmaking evolution with lasting impact, the brand sought to put its new creation through the rigors of life, as it would’ve been in the late 1960s. It’s one thing to be able to produce a movement in large numbers and have it hold itself together, but for it to maintain chronometric integrity when faced with the perils of everyday life - now that’s a whole other matter. Well, a decade on from the 707’s first commercial flight in 1958, Zenith - the watchmaker - announced the world’s first serially produced automatic chronograph movement, the El Primero. What’s that got to do with Zenith, the watchmaker? But beyond all of the facts and figures, what is ultimately attributed to the 707, is that it is the craft that ushered in the jet age of commercial travel. For Boeing, this was their first successful commercial passenger craft, which remained in production until 1991 with a total of 1,010 aircrafts produced. The Boeing 707 took its first commercial flight in 1958.

Zenith 385