Zenith: 40th Anniversary of the El Primero Movement

El primero, 40th Anniversary.

Developed in 1969, El Primero is a masterpiece of innovation. Its perfect integration enables a movement that occupies very little space to be reliable and accurate: the position of each plate, each gear and each component is optimized.

(Chronomaster Open Anniversary)

El Primero is the only chronograph movement capable of measuring short periods of time with 1/10th of a second accuracy by using a balance that oscillates at 36,000 vibrations per hour. This absolute accuracy means that the movement passes the tests of the COSC (Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute).

(Class Open Anniversary)

El Primero features a pearly, angular and planished decoration. As a symbol of its excellence, its calibre requires a total of nine months of work. It also needs 5 to 50 separate operations per piece, demands 50 separate grinding operations for the bridge dimensions. Then, more or less twenty watchmakers are actively involved in making one movement and no fewer than 18 different metals are used.

Two special series: The Originals and New Vintage 69

In 2009, Zenith celebrates the 40th anniversary of the El Primero, created in 1969. And so, in order to celebrate this occasion, Zenith launches two special series: The Originals and New Vintage 69.

(Defy Classic Open Anniversary)

The El Primero calibre for these Anniversary series has been named the 469 in acknowledgment of the year in which it was created. This automatic Date Chronograph movement features 278 components and 31 rubies.

« The Originals » is faithful to the vintage design, but with a subtle twist for the counters which meet and almost touch at the centre of the dial.

(New Vintage 1969 – Pink Gold)

« New Vintage 1969 » comprises models also inspired by the original model. The El Primero Anniversary logo on the dial at 7 o’clock is engraved on the transparent sapphire back of the case. The dials are unusually crossed by a band of light.

(Port Royal Anniversary)

The pieces of the New Vintage 69 collection will all be available, during 2009 only, in a limited and numbered series.

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Mahatma Gandhi Zenith Pocketwatch

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born in 1869 in Porbandar, India.

He is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi or “Great Soul”, an honorific first applied to him by Rabindranath Tagore. In India, on the other hand, he is known as Bapu (bāpu or “Father”). He is officially honoured in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 October, is commemorated there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Gandhi was a prominent political and spiritual leader of the Indian Independece Movement and an inspiration to Martin Luther King between many other major figures till nowadays. He was named by the Time Magazine as the second most important man of the 20^th Century (after Albert Einstein). Mahatma means “Great Soul” and, being coherent with such an honorofic tittle, he was a pioneer of “Satyagraha” meaning the resistance to tiranny through mass civil disobedience and total non-violence through which he led India to independence from Britain.

According to the past March Antiquorum Auctioneers’Catalogue, Mahatma Gandhi’s Pocketwatch was later given to his grandniece, Abha Gandhi. Accompanied by Gandhi’s sandals, bowl, plate, glasses, images of Gandhi and letters of authenticity from Ghita Mehta

The watch’s brand: Zenith, movement No. 421357, case No. 49529. Made circa 1910. Historically Important, it is a pocket watch with alarm function and Arabic numerals. Its diameter is 49 mm and its thickness 16 mm. It was sold in $2,096,000 in New York, between the 4^th and the 5^th of March, during Antiquorum’s auction.

The Sandals: Gandhi apparently gave the sandals to a British military officer in Aden in 1931 during his trip from Bombay to London.

The Bowl / Plate: The bowl and the plate (thali) were also gifts that Gandhi bestowed upon Abha, his grandniece.

The Glasses: His pair of glasses were given to Colonel H. H. Shiri Diwan Nawab, Sir Muhammed Mahabat Khanji, the 3rd Rasul Khanji, Nawab Sahib of Junagadh, by Gandhi, most probably at his Ashram in Ahmedabad in the 1930s.

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