Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Steel — Blue Sunray Dial | Ref. 03.20416.4061/51.M2040

The El Primero needs no introduction among those who know watchmaking history. On 10 January 1969, Zenith unveiled the world's first automatic high-frequency chronograph — a 36,000 vph movement beating at 5 Hz that made it possible, for the first time, to time events to one-tenth of a second with mechanical precision. The Chronomaster El Primero Open at 42 mm is the living embodiment of that achievement, presenting the legendary calibre 4061 in all its layered, skeletonised glory.

A blue-toned sunray-patterned dial provides the canvas, its graduated hue shifting from deep midnight at the centre to bright cerulean at the edge as light plays across the surface. The open-worked architecture at 12 o'clock allows the characteristic tri-colour chronograph registers — a hallmark of El Primero design — to become visible elements of the dial itself, blurring the boundary between movement and face in a way that is uniquely Zenith. The stainless steel 42 mm case provides a robust yet refined frame, its proportions calibrated to give the complex dial room to breathe.

The stainless steel bracelet completes the watch with manufacture coherence, its satin-and-polish finishing mirroring the case's dual-surface treatment. Approximately 50 hours of power reserve and water resistance to 10 ATM mean the Chronomaster is prepared for the demands of real life as readily as it commands admiration on the wrist. This is history you can wear — a chronograph that changed the rules of what was possible, available to you now.