

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.

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.
