Blue Ribbon: The Zenith Chronomaster Original

The Zenith Chronomaster Original with a tricolour dial is now available in the brand’s signature hue.

After making a massive splash earlier this year across the Chronomaster Sport, Defy Skyline Chronograph and Pilot Big Date Chronograph as well as the new GFJ series to mark Zenith’s 160th anniversary, the brand’s signature colour has popped up on the Zenith Chronomaster Original, now available in a midnight-blue dial for the tricolour counters format, fitted with either a blue calfskin leather strap or a three-link steel bracelet.

A sunray-brushed blue dial accompanies the emblematic composition of overlapping counters in grey, dark grey and blue, which comes from the first Zenith El Primero Reference A386 from 1969. Launched in 2021, the Chronomaster Original preserves the aesthetics of the A386 and replicates key features of that legendary chronograph: a 38mm stainless-steel case, a bezel-less design, pump-style pushers, a sloped profile, faceted lugs, applied baton-style markers and hands, and radial-brushed and polished surfaces. The tachymeter ring, however, is replaced by a 1/10th of a second chapter ring.

The latest El Primero, the automatic chronograph movement 3600, lies at the heart of this edition of the Chronomaster Original. It measures elapsed time to 1/10th of a second, indicated by the red central chronograph seconds hand, which makes one complete sweep of the dial in 10 seconds instead of 60 seconds. In addition to 60 hours of power reserve and a stop-seconds mechanism, the El Primero 3600 automatic offers a tribute to Zenith: an openworked rotor in the shape of the brand’s star emblem, visible through the sapphire-crystal caseback held in place by the 12-sided bezel.

This story was first seen as part of the WOW #81 Autumn 2025 Issue