Zenith El Primero A386

The race to the first automatic chronograph

Georges Favre-Jacot began making watches in Le Locle in 1865, and the firm took the name Zenith in 1912. By the 1950s its caliber 135-O had won five Neuchâtel Observatory chronometry prizes. In 1962 management began planning a showpiece for the company's centenary in 1965: an automatic chronograph, something no one had yet put into production. Work began in 1963 at the Les Ponts-de-Martel workshops under Raoul Pellaton.

It took longer than planned, and Zenith was not alone. A consortium of Breitling, Hamilton-Büren, Dubois-Dépraz and Heuer-Leonidas was building the Calibre 11 Chronomatic, and Seiko was working on its caliber 6139. Zenith went public first, unveiling the El Primero on January 10, 1969.

The El Primero was not only early but also fast. It beat at 36,000 vibrations per hour, 5 Hz, against 19,800 for the Calibre 11 and 21,600 for the Seiko, which let it measure time to a tenth of a second. It was an integrated, column-wheel chronograph with a date, 30 mm across and only 6.5 mm thick, built from 282 parts with a power reserve of about 50 hours, against 7.7 mm for the Calibre 11.

A386: the round one with the colored dial

Zenith launched the movement in a family of references between 1969 and 1972, including the A384, A385, A386, A781, A787 and G381, with production of each running from about 1,000 to at most 4,500 pieces, according to one detailed history. The A386 was the stainless steel model.

Auction catalogs describe it as a 'masculine' 37.5 mm case with long, angled, faceted lugs and an almost non-existent bezel that gives the dial more room; other sources list it at 38 mm with 19 mm between the lugs. The pushers are simple pump pushers.

The dial was the shock. Instead of the subdued sports watches of the 1940s and 1950s, Zenith overlapped three registers in blue, light gray and anthracite and added a red chronograph hand and a tachymeter scale. Many came on a steel ladder bracelet by Gay Frères.

The man who walled up the El Primero

In 1971 Zenith was acquired by Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago (one account by Vermot himself dates the sale to 1972). The new owners bet on quartz. In 1975 mechanical movement production was halted, and in 1976 the decision was made to sell the manufacturing equipment for scrap.

Charles Vermot, who ran El Primero production, refused to let it go. With his brother Maurice, over six months, he moved the presses, cams, cutting tools and manufacturing plans into an isolated top-floor storage space, saving about 150 presses. In his own telling, the equipment stayed hidden for nearly ten years.

In 1978 Zenith returned to Swiss ownership. In 1984 an engineer who knew of the rescue came to tell Vermot the news: the equipment was needed. That same year Zenith signed a ten-year contract to supply El Primero movements to Rolex, which in 1988 launched the Daytona ref. 16520 on a version, the caliber 4030, modified with about 200 changes and slowed to 28,800 vph. Rolex used it until 2000. LVMH bought Zenith in November 1999 for US$48.4 million.

At auction

A 1969 A386 with its Gay Frères bracelet, boxes, guarantee and hang tag was offered at auction in New York on October 26, 2017 with an estimate of $12,000 to $24,000. In November 2019 a circa-1969 example estimated at CHF 5,000 to 8,000 ($5,200 to $8,300) sold in Geneva for CHF 22,500, and in May 2021 another circa-1969 example estimated at CHF 10,000 to 15,000 ($10,900 to $16,300) sold in Geneva for CHF 27,720. A later A386, circa 1975, was offered in December 2020 with an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000.

The most expensive A386 is not a vintage one. For the El Primero's 50th anniversary, a unique A386 in platinum, the first and only A386 made in that metal, sold in Geneva in November 2019 for $250,650, with proceeds going to the Zoe4life charity. Being a platinum one-off, it is a different watch from a steel A386, and its price says nothing about the value of an original.

Zenith itself revisited the design in 2019: a steel A386 Revival in an anniversary set limited to 50 pieces, not sold on its own, and three gold A386 Revivals in white, pink and yellow gold, 50 of each, at CHF 19,900, with 38 mm cases and the modern caliber 400. A 2021 steel recreation numbered 1 of 38 later sold at auction in New York for $21,420.

Why it matters

Thanks to Vermot, the El Primero is still in production more than half a century later. Zenith followed the caliber 400 of 1987 with the 400Z and 410Z in 1998, the 'Striking 10th' caliber 4052 in 2010, and for the 50th anniversary in 2019 the caliber 3600 with a 60-hour reserve.

The A386 is the watch that gave the movement its face. Its overlapping tricolor registers became the signature look of Zenith chronographs and one of the most recognized dials of 1960s watch design.

The numbers

Reference

A386

Caliber

Zenith 3019 PHC El Primero, automatic, 31 jewels, 282 parts

Frequency

36,000 vph (5 Hz), 1/10-second resolution

Power reserve

About 50 hours

Case

Stainless steel, 37.5 mm (catalogs) or 38 mm (other sources)

Production

From 1969; early El Primero references ran about 1,000 to 4,500 pieces each

Timeline

1. 1865

   Georges Favre-Jacot begins making watches in Le Locle.

2. 1962

   Zenith starts planning an automatic chronograph for its 1965 centenary.

3. 1963

   Development begins at Les Ponts-de-Martel under Raoul Pellaton.

4. Jan 10, 1969

   Zenith unveils the El Primero caliber 3019 PHC.

5. 1969

   The A386 and its sister references go on sale.

6. 1971

   Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago acquires Zenith.

7. 1975

   Mechanical movement production is halted.

8. 1976

   Equipment is slated for scrap; Charles Vermot hides presses, tools and plans.

9. 1978

   Zenith returns to Swiss owners.

10. 1984

    El Primero production restarts; ten-year supply contract with Rolex.

11. 1988

    Rolex Daytona 16520 launches on the modified El Primero, caliber 4030.

12. Nov 1999

    LVMH buys Zenith.

13. 2019

    50th anniversary: A386 Revival models; a platinum one-off A386 sold for charity.

14. May 9, 2021

    A circa-1969 A386 sells in Geneva for CHF 27,720.

The world in 1969

• Feb 9, 1969

  The Boeing 747 'jumbo jet' flies for the first time.

• Mar 2, 1969

  Concorde makes its first test flight in Toulouse.

• Jul 20, 1969

  Apollo 11's lunar module lands on the Moon; Neil Armstrong steps onto the surface.

• Aug 15, 1969

  The Woodstock Festival opens near White Lake, New York.

• Sep 26, 1969

  The Beatles release Abbey Road.

• Oct 29, 1969

  The first message is sent over ARPANET between UCLA and SRI.

• Nov 10, 1969

  Sesame Street premieres.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Zenith El Primero A386 is number 46 of 100 in the watches entries of the FLOAT 100. 54 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (94 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Charles Vermot and his brother saved about 150 presses by moving them into a hidden storage space at the factory over six months.
• Rolex's El Primero-based Daytona movement had about 200 modifications and beat more slowly, at 28,800 vph.
• Zenith began planning the El Primero in 1962 with its 1965 centenary in mind; it was unveiled in 1969.
• The only platinum A386 ever made sold for $250,650 in 2019.