High Beat, Time Only: The Zenith Chronomaster Solo Sport
Zenith’s latest Chronomaster celebrates the company’s high frequency heritage.
The Zenith Chronomaster Solo Sport is a high-spec time-and-date watch using a non-chronograph version of the famous high frequency El Primero caliber, which was launched by Zenith in 1969, as the world’s first high frequency chronograph and one of the world’s first automatic chronographs. The new watch is designed to be a tough, go-anywhere-do-anything daily driver, but its design was also informed by some of the company’s design cues from earlier watches, as well as by the nature of the high frequency escapement itself. At launch, the watch will be available in three versions, with ceramic dials in black, brown, or white, and with unidirectional bezels and a 200 meter water resistance.
These are not the only time-and-date high frequency watches in Zenith’s collections – a non-chronograph version of the El Primero caliber is used in the Skyline models, where the small seconds counter is in the same 9:00 position in which it’s found in El Primero chronographs. The new watches, however, have a center seconds display.
The stainless steel cases are 40mm x 13.1mm, with a 200 meter water resistance, and all three have ceramic bezels as well as ceramic dials, which I think is a first for Zenith. The legend “HIGH FREQUENCY” on the dial is underscored by a spiked wave. Interestingly enough (if you’re interested in this sort of thing) a sine wave appears smooth in the time domain, but has a spike in the frequency domain, which seems appropriate for a high frequency watch. The same motif is found across the dials as well, and the seconds track has a sawtooth, or “shark’s tooth” pattern found in some vintage El Primero watches, like the A3817.
The new Chronomaster Solo Sport models also feature Zenith’s relatively new Zenclasp folding clasp. This was introduced earlier this year when the brand launched the Chronomaster Sport Skeleton at Watches and Wonders, and it’s a pretty sophisticated piece of engineering. The Zenclasp, says Zenith, was the result of a three year development program, and has 41 components, and it’s adjustable in 2.5mm increments, with a total range of 10mm.
The movement, as you’d expect from its EP lineage, runs at 36,000 vph, with stop seconds, and despite the high frequency, you still get a solid 60 hour power reserve.
In the somewhat crowded space of three hander, dive watch-adjacent sports watches, the new Chronomaster Solo Sport watches bring some interesting differentiating points. The only other company making a diver’s watch with a high frequency escapement that I’m aware of is Grand Seiko, so while the integrated bracelet sports watch space in the ten thousand dollar range may be crowded, the high frequency sports watch space is refreshingly sparse. The Chronomaster Solo Sport watches are serious contenders in a domain where real points of differentiation are very hard to find.
The Zenith Chronomaster Solo Sport watches: cases, 40mm x 13.1mm, stainless steel, 200 meter water resistance, with unidirectional ceramic bezel and ceramic dials; hands and faceted indexes coated with Super-LumiNova SLN C1. Movement, El Primero caliber 3620, 60 hour power reserve with silicon escape wheel and lever. Prices at launch, $9,800 for the no-date model and $10,900 with date.
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