Zenith launches Heritage 146 at Baselworld 2017
The new chronograph features the maison’s iconic 1969 El Primero calibre
Zenith is one of the premium Swiss watch brands which has been in operation since 1865 and today is a subsidiary of the luxury group LVMH (Bulgari, TAG Heuer and Hublot). Zenith produces all watch movements in-house and is famous for the 1969 El Primero calibre, one of the first automatic chronograph calibres. The El Primero is not only the world’s first automatic chronograph but also the first to beat at the highly precise frequency of 36,000 vph.
After more than 150 years boasting more than 300 patents, more than 600 movement variations and 2,333 prizes in the field of chronometry, Zenith still finds itself firmly rooted in the El Primero.
This year at Baselworld, Zenith is presenting a new vintage series: the Heritage 146 chronograph inspired by a 1960s watch and now equipped with an El Primero movement. It features a retro look, a tropical brown or blue dial, a 38 mm-diameter steel case and a column-wheel El Primero movement chronometer-certified by the COSC.
Subtly reinterpreting a historical model, the Heritage 146 is a unique offering combining the best of the manufacture’s past: design, history and true rarity.
As one of the first historical watchmakers to be organised as a full-fledged manufacture, Zenith naturally celebrates this heritage by periodically relaunching some of its iconic vintage models.
The 1960s model was equipped with Calibre 146D featuring a balance-wheel oscillating at a rate of 18,000 vibrations/hour, ensuring a 38-hour power reserve and displays of the hours, minutes, with small seconds at 9 o’clock.
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The new Heritage 146 offers a chronograph with central sweep-seconds hand and 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, as well as a tachymetric scale. This two-counter dial without a date window reflects a configuration typical of 1960s chronographs. The model also displays the distinctive graduated scale on the minutes’ counter, highlighting the 3, 6 and 9 numerals corresponding to the minutes charged for telephone conversations at the time the original was made.
