Zenith El Primero Mega Port Royal Open Grande Date Luxury Watch Review

http://www.thewatchbox.com The Zenith Mega Port Royal Open Grande Date dial El Primero chronograph is a case study in avant garde watch design done right. Zenith boldly combines a rectangular PVD black case, an open escapement dial, multiple complications, and a three-layer guilloche dial with its famed El Primero chronograph, and the result is a watch that reads like a concept car for the wrist. Zenith's Mega Port Royal Open features two hallmarks of the Le Locle watchmaker; an open dial, and a high complication-per-dollar ratio. The open dial reveals the ten-beat-per-second El Primero heart; Zenith's famed automatic chronograph remains one of the fastest beating mechanical movements in the business, and the unique sound of the escapement against the ear remains as charming today as it did upon debut in 1969. But the open dial is about sights, not sounds, and this window into the soul of the El Primero delivers 90 percent of the visual impact of a tourbillon for 10 percent of the price. Zenith flanks the open escapement with useful complications including a 52-hour power reserve gauge at six o'clock and a double-digit grande date at two o'clock. A bi-level dial enhances the style of the Zenith Mega Port Royal Open. Underneath the sapphire crystal, a second sapphire with an anthracite tint serves as the platform for suspended Arabic numerals in a consonant smoked chrome finish. Beneath that floating layer, a guilloche metal base bears the grande date, the power rese