The lacquered white main dial surface is ringed and visually compacted by a black outer scale containing both the traditional tachymeter and a pulsometer scale, a relative rarity in the El Primero line. The dial of the Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Revival A3817 is undoubtedly the centerpiece of this design, bringing together many of the most cherished visual cues among Zenith collectors into a single package.
Zenith rates the El Primero Chronomaster Revival A3817 at a meager 50 meters. One element of the case that remains stubbornly ‘70s, however, is the water resistance. Likewise, around back, the El Primero Chronomaster Revival A3817 adds a sapphire display back to the vintage case design. Like the original 1971 A3817, this sports a domed crystal, but Zenith renders this in modern quality with sapphire. While small, this case should give a solid presence on the wrist, thanks to its bold planar shape, piston pushers, and mix of brushed and polished surfaces. A far cry from the scaled-up modern reimaginings common across much of the industry, this stainless steel case measures in at a truly compact 37mm. Like the current A385 revival models, the Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Revival A3817 uses the exact case dimensions from the original 1969 El Primero series. The new boutique exclusive Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Revival A3817 is a resurrection of one of the El Primero line’s most interesting transitional models, as well as a greatest hits collection of classic El Primero cues.
Needless to say, these rare iterations are lusted after by Zenith cognoscenti, and for its latest release, the brand has created a stunningly faithful revival of this elusive vintage reference.
Only one model in this original period, the El Primero A3817, ever carried both the tonneau case and the tricolor dial, and that watch had a production run of only 1000 units for a brief period in 1971. Many of these early iterations of the El Primero either sport the compact, angular tonneau case like the A384 and A385 lines, or these watches use a more traditional round case design with the line’s instantly recognizable overlapping tricolor chronograph subdials, like the A386 series.
#EL PRIMERO CHRONOMASTER SERIES#
When discussing the first generation of Zenith’s legendary El Primero automatic chronograph series in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, most models fall into one of two camps.
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