The El Primero 21 is Zenith’s best current answer to “what is the 21 st century version of the iconic El Primero.” The brand has been riding on the coattails of the 5Hz-operating-speed El Primero automatic chronograph for a long, long time. Of course, one thing that was new aside from movement architecture in the El Primero 21 was the special carbon material ( ahem, Carbon-Matrix Carbon Nanotube material) used for the balance wheel in the distinct regulation organ that is dedicated to the chronograph complication in the movement. Guy agreed that the El Primero 21 built on lessons learned with the Carrera Mikrograph, but said that it was an entirely new mechanism without any shared parts.

If you recall that model, you’ll know that it introduced the 1/100 th-of-a-second mechanical chronograph into the LVMH watch group family and had a dial with an identical layout to that of the El Primero 21. This was important to know because I was under the impression the movement was a re-done version of that which existed in the previous TAG Heuer Carrera Mikrograph. Semon was that everything in the El Primero 21 movement was new. Guy Semon at sister brand TAG Heuer, who was responsible for the sexy-looking El Primero 21 movement (the Zenith caliber El Primero 9004). I even had an opportunity to speak with Mr. Zenith let us know about the watch in advance of its release, and I was quite excited to see and play with it. For me, one of the most anticipated watches of the Baselworld 2017 show to put on my wrist was the new Zenith Defy El Primero 21.

Download zenith defy el primero 21