Zenith

Zenith appoints Colonel Blashford-Snell new ambassador

 

Jean-Frédéric Dufour, Ceo of the Zenith watchmaking manufacturer, has just announced the return of
Colonel John Blashford-Snell to the circle of Zenith ambassadors. this title confirms a longstanding reality.
for the last 40 years, the British explorer has proudly worn a Zenith el primero chronograph on his expeditions
across the world, since he participated in the great British trans-americas mission – 29,000 km from
alaska to the tierra del fuego (land of fire), through the previously impenetrable swampy jungle of the
complete darién gap. Colonel Blashford-snell has organised and directed more than 100 expeditions during
which his el primero chronograph has been through the worst possible conditions : the intense cold of
alaska, extreme humidity of the swamps of central and south america, the jungles on the banks of the Blue
nile and Congo river, desert sand… today, like a hand that has completed a sweep of the dial, this chronograph
(which still works perfectly !) has come back to le locle, because the Colonel has just donated it to the
future Zenith museum. rightly so, the manufacture Zenith is paying tribute to this exceptional person by
launching a John Blashford-snell limited edition inspired by the el primero stratos flyback model.
the beginnings of an explorer’s vocation




What chronograph can claim to have withstood such a test of its resistance
and reliability by spending more than 40 years on the wrist of one of the
most tireless explorers of modern times ? For that is definitely how Colonel
Blashford-Snell is best described. His adventures began in 1968, when the
Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia invited the British army to put together an
expedition to attempt the first descent of the Blue Nile. John Blashford-Snell
led this project. In 1969, once the mission was accomplished, he returned to
England, and founded the Scientific Exploration Society in order to encourage
and promote scientific exploration across the world. (It is worth pointing out
at this juncture that the El Primero movement was launched that same year).
His expeditions always had scientific, medical, geographical or environmental
objectives. After the Blue Nile, he needed a new challenge, which turned
out to be one of his most challenging missions – the British Trans-Americas –
crossing the American continent from the extreme north to the extreme south.
The main challenge was the crossing of the complete Darién Gap in a motor
vehicle. This is a swampy jungle area, 400 km long, up until then thought to
be completely impassable (see box). Following this exploit, the “Pan American
Highway Authority” administration, responsible for the great road that connects
the very north of the Americas, to the extreme south, aimed to spend
the 150 million dollars required to build the last stretch of the Pan American
Highway that would cross the Darién Gap, taking the same route as this glorious
epic. After this expedition, John Blashford-Snell continued to wear the
ZENITH El Primero chronograph that was given to him by the watchmaking
manufacturer for the occasion.





a life dedicated to exploration and discovery

John Blashford-Snell also took part in new adventures, the one that first springs
to mind is the descent of the entire 4700 km length of the Congo River in
1974-1975. He was also committed to sharing his passion, doing this through
Operation Drake from 1978 to 1980 (a project in which 400 young people
from 27 nations took part, sailing a British ship transformed into a floating laboratory
which accomplished a number of exploratory missions), followed by
Operation Raleigh from 1984 to 1992. Having retired from the British Army
in 1991 after 37 years of service, Colonel Blashford-Snell continued to lead
similar projects, undertaking a series of explorations of South American rivers,
seeking archaeological remains and scientific observations (Kota Mama
Expeditions). Most recently, from 2009-2010, he directed a hunt for a meteorite
in Bolivia and studied giant elephants in the Nepalese jungle. In 2011,
he launched an expedition in Mongolia, in the Gobi desert. At nearly 75, he
has lost nothing of his drive !


John Blashford-Snell : the same “pioneering spirit”

In 1974, John Blashford-Snell was awarded the Segrave Trophy for “Courage,
Initiative, Skill and Spirit of Adventure” that he had demonstrated so often,
and for his participation in “the Development of Air, Land, River and Sea
Transport”. The medals awarded to him by the Royal Geographical Society
and the Institute of Royal Engineers attest to his missions’ contribution to the
progress of knowledge. The Colonel is currently President of the Scientific
Exploration Society, and the water charity Just a Drop. He has held the Order
of the British Empire since 1991 for his action in the context of the Operation
Raleigh, which contributed to developing a sense of initiative and responsibility
in young people (many of them from underprivileged backgrounds), and
making them “true young pioneers”.

All of these distinctive qualities demonstrate a certain mindset, which combines
an enterprising spirit, a will to excel by constantly taking on new challenges
; a passion for knowledge and discovery ; as well as a deep sense of
human values. This mindset exactly mirrors that of the Manufacture ZENITH,
that brand CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour sums up as follows : ”The expression
‘pioneering spirit’ best defines the ZENITH brand, which has often been a
trailblazer in uncharted territory. What is remarkable about ZENITH is this ability
to give birth to new ideas, and then commit to new technical challenges.
Our watches have accompanied some of the greatest human adventures :
the discovery of the North and South poles, conducted by the explorer Roald
Amundsen ; Mahatma Ghandi’s peaceful struggle for Indian independence ;
the ecological principles of Crown Prince Albert 1st of Monaco ; Louis Blériot’s
Channel crossing ; John F. Kennedy’s political activities ; and the solo flight of
the North Pole in a hot air balloon by French doctor Jean-Louis Etienne, to
name but a few.” It was only right that Colonel John Blashford-Snell’s name
be officially engraved as an ambassador of the brand alongside the list of illustrious
personalities who have chosen ZENITH chronographs.





Zenith, a passion for innovation

Instead of resting on his laurels after the success of the British Trans-Americas
expedition, John Blashford-Snell constantly took on new explorations ! Similarly,
as a remarkable pioneer in its own right, the Manufacture ZENITH could have
continued to reproduce identical El Primero mechanisms to the one the Colonel
has put to the test for its reliability since 1971. Created two years previously,
the El Primero calibre was the first mechanical movement in the world to beat
at a rate of ten vibrations per second, whereas all existing ones achieved eight
vibrations per second at best. But even after having surpassed a barrier that
was considered unbeatable, ZENITH remained driven by a tireless spirit of discovery,
and was responsible for equipping the El Primero with new complications.
ZENITH is currently marketing a 500-piece El Primero Stratos Flyback
special edition christened John Blashford-Snell in tribute to its faithful ambassador.
The Colonel personally participated in developing the specifications. He
wanted “an ultra-resistant instrument with exceptional readability”. The result
is a steel case and bracelet, silver-toned dial and black counters for maximum
contrast, with Super-LuminovaTM on the hands and hour-markers. This “Special
Mission” watch is equipped with a flyback function, a unidirectional rotating
bezel and a telemetric scale on the inner bezel ring.

El Primero Stratos Flyback

limited edition tribute to John Blashford









Colonel Blashford receiving an El Primero 36’000 VpH during his Manufacture visit


the British trans-americas expedition, 1971-1972

ZENITH has always supported daring projects and people seeking to push physical
or intellectual limits as far as possible. In 1971-1972, the Manufacture was
therefore amongst the companies that supported the British Trans-Americas
Expedition. This was right at the beginning of adventure sponsorship, which has
since become a widespread practice. Although many members of the expedition
came from the British armed forces, in close cooperation with the Columbian,
Panamanian and US armed forces, Range Rover supplied the two vehicles (two
models from a series initially intended for exportation to Switzerland), Marks &
Spencer supplied the clothes, Heinz the food… ZENITH supplied the watches to
the whole team and equipped the leader, John Blashford-Snell, with a watch powered
by its latest and most accurate calibre : the El Primero Chronograph.

After a year of tough training, the expedition left from Anchorage on December
3rd 1971, initially crossing Alaska, and the Yukon, in the snow and on frozen roads.
In Canada, one of the Range Rovers had an accident, but it was repaired from
Vancouver. The expedition reached San Francisco on December 23rd and thereafter
Los Angeles on the 24th. Still going south, they crossed Mexico and South
America, arriving in Panama City on January 12th.




The toughest part of the expedition started here – the Darién Gap – known locally
as El Tapón “the plug”, known in English as “The Gap”– a gap of some 400 km
in the Pan-American Highway, an area completely devoid of any useable road in
many places, where rare tracks in the jungle were known only to locals. Usually,
cars went around this extensive area of tropical swamps on boats. Crossing El
Tapón appeared impossible and far too dangerous due to the hostile bandits, disease
and aggressive fauna.




It was the aim of this expedition to study the fauna and flora and to open a passage.
They started on January 19th 1972, when the rainy season, which was five
weeks longer than usual, had turned the rare passages of terra firma into thick,
black glutinous mud. The path was hacked with a machete and chain saw or using
aluminium ladders over certain obstacles, fording the worst areas. The progress
was slow – averaging barely 3 km per day – while a mistake in the route resulted
in losing ten days. Despite these difficulties, due to incredible strength and tenacity,
after 96 days, on April 23rd 1972, the expedition regained solid ground, after
the final crossing of the great Atrato swamp. For the first time, motor vehicles had
vanquished the complete El Tapón.




After a thorough overhaul of the Range Rovers, the expedition continued its route
right down South America – Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Patagonia and the Land of
Fire (Tierra del Fuego)… They arrived at Ushuaia and Cape Horn on June 10th 1972,
after a 29,000 km trip. An achievement that is comparable, albeit on a completely
different scale, to that accomplished by the El Primero movement with its 36,000
vibrations per hour…!!!



This message has been edited by Marcus Hanke on 2011-05-31 12:32:28