Zenith Chronomaster T Open Power Reserve Luxury Watch Review

http://www.thewatchbox.com Thierry Nataf's time at Zenith was a controversial episode, but time has vindicated one of his signature innovations: the open escapement dial. This Zenith Chronomaster T Open Power Reserve is a crossroads of traditional Zenith style with Nataf's flamboyant charisma. More than the best of the Nataf era, the Chronomaster Open deserves a place in the Pantheon of great Zenith El Primero References. The El Primero became the first high-beat (36,000 VpH) automatic chronograph movement in 1969. Since then, it's been a darling of watch enthusiasts and watchmakers alike. The Zenith Chronomaster became the flagship of the El Primero series during the 1990s, and this era provides the Chronomaster T's 40mm stepped-bezel case. The look is late 1990s Zenith: restrained and classical. The dial is the same... until the open escapement is considered. Then the fireworks start. Nataf understood that the romance of the mechanical watch was tied to the beating heart of the beast: its escapement. In a high-beat El Primero movement, this fact counts double. Even a naked eye can tell the difference between Zenith's legend and a conventional 28,800 VpH workhorse from Rolex or ETA. The open escapement is a great piece of theater, and the partially skeletonized caliber El Primero caliber 4021 movement was developed to put the famed high-beat device in full view. Spare balance and pallet bridges obscure very little of the mechanism, and the frenetic components are far e