Tried this in person, I didn't like the way the lugs stretches out rather than aggresively curve inwards like the Grand Seiko does, coupled with the tall case height it has the watch swaying back and forth on the wrist. The aggresive inward curve of the Grand Seiko helps watches look better on leather straps, as the strap will follow the contour of the lugs. The prior iteration of the Chronomaster Original from 2018, has lugs that curve more inward rather than stretched out and Zenith should've went with the same lug contour on this 2021 update.
Thanks for highlighting that! I didn’t get a chance to try on the previous generation Chronomaster 38 but I did see in pictures the case design and lug design was quite different. Are you referring to grand seiko chronographs in your comment?
I had the same reset issue with my Defy21. I fought Zenith service centers and ADs for 2 years. Everyone claimed this is normal for this watch except not all watches displayed this behavior. Finally, I raised hell with Zenith including via their Instagram and to their CEO DSs. They reached out to me from Zenith HQ and I sent it directly to Switzerland for repair. They swapped out the reset mechanism and it remedied the problem (I think). Honestly, I am afraid to tinker with it too much because 70 of the time of ownership of this watch, it was either in service or being in transit back and forth. and I don't want it to have to go back. So I made peace with the fact that a 15K watch may malfunction. Such a shame they were so coy with it.
Thanks for sharing this info! It’s interesting to know that not every watch with this movement showed this behaviour. Is the Defy21 also an El Primero 3600 movement?
@@twosecondswatch It's el primero but cal 9000. I suspected that zenith eventually remedied this problem. When I bought my watch in 2019, it was still relatively a new watch a la new cars having some design issues. I had no idea this problem existed in other el primero models. WOW! I also experienced a design issue with my Zenith pilot type 29 GMT (limited edition) where the rotor wouldn't wind the watch while in the watch winder. I also had to fight Zenith to fix it under warranty because they kept denying the issue. Again, not every watch had this issue and it took a while to "convince" them that my watch was an unlucky one.
I suppose with in house movements there’s sometimes more problems than we expect. After some time of watch collecting and being in the hobby, I start to appreciate the ETA workhorse movements. Though the El Primero movement is a technically based on an older movmeebt
Use the chronograph to sharpen your notion of time. Play with it and guess how much time has passed. I am amazed how many “time games” you can play with your chronograph that watch lovers never think about. Over the years, playing with my watches, I can guess lapsed times with +/- 2-5% precision for times less than 1h! Practice and you will see how good you become! Running and other endurance sports sharpen your perception…your body movement is like a mechanical clock. Once I estimated 1h for a real time of 1h01s22!
I take it you would not buy this piece again, hard to justify the price tag with that little reset issue which cannot be unseen. have you tried the breitling b09? any better chrono options?
On the contrary! This is a fantastic chronograph with a legendary heritage. I think the reset issue is a non issue to me as you just have to press the pusher all the way in, doesn’t impede function in anyway. I see it as an interesting quirk. I would still highly recommend this watch. On another note, I haven’t tried the breitling B09 yet, if anyone would like to loan one to me, I’ll be more than happy to review it!
Great review! It wears terrible imo. I also have a flat since inch wrist. If paying 9000 euro I would expect the watch to fit well on the wrist. It seems exceptionally elevated
Ouch! I think a lot of people don’t realise the float design of this model. Yes it is very elevated indeed! It’s strange that no popular RU-vid reviewer ever mentioned this…
@@twosecondswatch that's why I thought your review was a great review. It should have been mentioned elsewhere and wasn't. A lot of reviews are paid for by the watch companies and they don't ever want to say anything bad. You never get a watch review that slates the watch do you? There is a reason for that 🙂
You cannot really 'lose' what was not there to begin with. The original 1969 Zenith Chronomaster did NOT have a star on its second hand. There really is no reason why they would add a more 'modern' touch like that to the Zenith Chronomaster Original.
Good point. However the previous generation did have the star in the seconds hand. This was prevalent for the last couple of years before it was removed and introduced in the Chronomaster Sport model. I noticed their flagship models carry this minute detail today… 😀
The register at 3:00 divides a minute in one second intervals. The 6:00 register divides an hour in one minute intervals. If you are timing something less than ten seconds in duration, you can simply read the time to 1/10 of a second right from the center seconds hand. If you time something under one minute and more than ten seconds, read the seconds from the 3:00 register and 1/10 from the sweeping hand. This chronograph is best setup for timing sporting events of relatively short duration. If you need to time something like your daughter’s nap, as mentioned by the OP, a dive bezel is likely more useful.
Thanks for sharing! You make it sound so much easier than my actual explanation in the video… 🤣 But yes agree this chronograph is best for timing events that require very accurate precise timing, maybe sports competitions and such? Anyway I just like the cool fast chrono seconds hands
