Could Zenith's Icons set be the new poster child for pre-owned watches?
Could Zenith's Icons set be the new poster child for pre-owned watches? Today Zenith, the original manufacture watchmaker, unveils its unique Icons collection. Consisting of three restored vintage timepieces, it's ushering in a bold new era for the vintage watch market, says Robin Swithinbank Robin Swithinbank Even when watch brands open their factory doors to the curious, the inquisitive and the downright nosey – people like me – there are always no-go zones. Aperture-less gateways and airless corridors leading to who knows where are common architectural features in the Swiss mountains.
So to be given free rein to wander the aisles of Zenith's new Icons department, where row upon row of vintage components have been stashed with clinical levels of orderliness ready to be brought back into service, left me a little giddy. There wasn't even a "do not touch" sign.
I found those shelves, illuminated by the inky light of an early Le Locle winter, piled high with cases, bracelets and tiny parts, curios from a bygone age. On one, I clocked an assembled watch with a bi-colour octagonal case with "Scania" (yes, as in the guys who make the lorries) co-branding on the dial. On another, a piece from the 1940s with a slinky metal bracelet, engineered to a standard I'd not realised existed 80 years ago. For now, their stories remain a mystery, but who knows, perhaps one day we'll know more.
Zenith, as many will know, prides itself on being the original "manufacture" watchmaker, that is, a watch company that brings all the skills involved in making a mechanical watch under one roof. It achieved this in the early part of the 20th century, setting a standard that has become something of a grail for luxury watch brands. The 'in-house' tag it comes with generates a sort of super-kudos – not to mention higher price points.
Since its genesis in 1865, Zenith has produced tens of thousands of different references and hundreds of different mechanical calibres. Many of these will be lost to time, but the point of the Icons department is to begin a process of resurrection – and by extension, to remind us all that Zenith really is one of the great watchmakers.
To illustrate the point, Zenith is today unwrapping its debut "Zenith Icons" set, a triptych of '"Mark I" watches that became the first to carry the El Primero, the brand's milestone high-frequency automatic calibre of 1969. Each of the extremely rare trio is from the first batch of pieces manufactured with their model numbers and has been sourced, restored and certified by Zenith.
Alone, they are extremely rare; together they are unique. When it was announced in January 1969, the El Primero became the world's first automatic mechanical chronograph, ahead of designs produced by TAG Heuer and Seiko, whose solutions followed later the same year. Storied like few other calibres, and no other chronograph, El Primero defines Zenith's modern history.
First of the set (the pieces are being sold individually) is the G581, which was ordered into production shortly after that announcement more than half a century ago. Keen to add some gloss to its watchmaking achievement, Zenith cased it in 18-carat yellow gold, adding a "panda" dial with black counters on a white backdrop and a red seconds hand to reinforce the El Primero's sports timekeeping capabilities. Only 150 of these were made, making it one of the most coveted of the early El Primero watches.
Its sister watch was the G582, which, with its golden dial, was the dressier of the pair. Otherwise, it shared the same slimline case as the G581, a profile the brand was eager to highlight then as now. The El Primero was and is 'fully integrated', where other chronographs were "modular", meaning that rather than adding a chronograph module on top of an existing movement and therefore fattening it up, it was designed from the ground-up to be a chronograph movement.
The third in the trio is the more familiar A386, a stainless steel model Zenith has revived in recent years and which sits as a modern watch in its current collection. But this first-batch 1969 piece is a rare beauty. It's also historically significant, outlining details such as the tri-colour sub-dial, decimal scale, pump pushers and bezel-less case that would become Zenith signatures.
As it stands, values of Zenith vintage pieces are modest compared with illustrious dials names such as Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin. I wouldn't bet on that remaining the case for long.
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