Automatic Legend

The Zenith El Primero chronograph celebrates its golden jubilee.

- Wei-Yu Wang

The chronograph has a long and storied history. The self-winding chronograph, however, can’t make the same claim. History converges in 1969, when several entities were racing to produce the first automatic chronograph; the winner in the public eye was Zenith, which revealed the El Primero in January of that year.

The original El Primero was remarkable not just for its self-winding capability; it also had a high beat rate of 36,000bph, which afforded it an exceptional level of accuracy. It was also quite a handsome specimen with its slim 38mm case, overlapping tricolour counters and red seconds hand.