Charles Vermot, a specialist in chronograph movement construction had followed the development of El Primero since its inception and spent his entire career within the Manufacture. Aiming to market quartz watches exclusively, the Chicago-based company decided to stop the production of all mechanical movements, included that of the El Primero calibre. Zenith was sold to an American company called the Zenith Radio Corporation. The new, accurate quartz watches gained popularity and plunged the Swiss watch industry in a deep crisis. In the 1970s, the post-war global economic boom came to an end. Saved by an act of disobedience – Charles Vermot This simple fact stands as evidence of El Primero’s importance and enduring design.
The debate about who came first doesn’t really matter anymore … but what is important is the indisputable fact that there are very few movements, in particular, chronograph movements, that can simultaneously celebrate half a centenary and continue to be produced to power watches. What’s more, El Primero was not the first to hit the market. There are many debates about which was the first automatic chronograph, as both the Seiko and the Chronomatic movements were announced later the same year. It was presented in January 1969 in a press conference and aptly christened El Primero ( first in Spanish). The Zenith automatic chronograph was the first to be unveiled to the world. The calibre was also named ‘Datron HS 36’ at Movado, which commercialised the movement under the Zenith-Movado-Mondia consortium. Better known as El Primero, this development was initiated in 1962 with the goal of presenting the movement in 1965 to coincide with the centenary of the brand. The Zenith – code-named 3019 PHC calibre – was a high-frequency integrated chronograph with a horizontal clutch.
The Seiko 6139 calibre was a 27mm integrated column wheel chronograph with vertical coupling and beating at 21,600 vibrations/hour (or 3Hz).It conceived the Calibre 11, a modular construction based on a micro-rotor Buren movement and a Dubois-Depraz chronograph mechanism. The Chronomatic was the project of a consortium uniting Heuer, Breitling, Hamilton-Buren and chronograph specialist Dubois-Depraz.Three parties started to develop their own project, each with their own merits and their own technical vision. Watchmakers embarked on a genuine race to develop the first self-winding chronograph.
In the 1960s, it was time for the chronograph to modernise itself, by adding the practicality and comfort of automatic winding. Chronograph wristwatches have existed since the beginning of the 20 th century (around 1912 or 1913 for the earliest examples) but all of them were fitted with hand-wound movements.
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