In fact, the Chronomaster collection combines 3 lines that are of fundamental importance: the Open line with an open dial, the Revival line which proposes reeditions of models from the past and the brand new Chronomaster Sport line. What do all these lines have in common? The El Primero caliber of course. And here we see all the interest of this restructuring: Zenith relies on its flagship movement but communicates a real watch name (Chronomaster). The confusion that used to exist between the name of the watch and the name of the movement is no more.

We can see here all the efforts that are being made in the context of this strategy. The different reissues (the "Revival" models) work towards the same goal. They want to forge a legend around models and not only around the movement.


I sincerely believe that all these actions are beginning to show results. And the best example of the success of this strategy is the presentation of the Chronomaster Sport. This watch actually ticks all the boxes that Zenith wanted. It remains faithful to the brand's style and to previous models thanks to the lay-out and presentation of its dial. It has elements that forge its own personality in the Zenith catalog, such as the black ceramic bezel (I'll come back to this point). And it doesn't forget the innovative dimension thanks to the performance of the El Primero 3600 caliber. It even offers a bonus that I would describe as almost unexpected for Zenith: the buzz.

This buzz can be explained by the Chronomaster Sport's own qualities. But let's not beat around the bush: the watch has caused a lot of reaction and has received many positive or negative comments because of its supposed resemblance to the Rolex Daytona 116500. The black ceramic bezel, the shape of the hands, the design of the bracelet, the clasp... everything has been dissected, analyzed by many observers to criticize Zenith's approach. In the end, this story is a boon for the manufacture. There is nothing worse than a watch that comes out in indifference. The buzz generated a rare media exposure for Zenith which, most importantly, turned into a commercial success during these first weeks of availability.


To be compared to the Daytona is ultimately a great honor. There are worse criticisms. The Daytona is the chronograph of reference and more than that: an object of fantasy. It has no equivalent or competitor in its status as a watchmaking myth. So, even for reasons that may seem negative, to find oneself at a moment in time on a line of comparison can be perceived as a privilege.

But then, what about this supposed resemblance and, above all, does the Chronomaster Sport stand out by virtue of its own characteristics?



The dial is faithful to the Zenith style with 3 sub-dials in different colors. They are carefully chosen and combine harmoniously. I personally find that these colors are very well proportioned. They are rather soft, even pastel depending on the angle of the light and the bezel is in the same trend being perceived more often as grey than black. The applied indexes give volume and the date window is located between two of these indexes, at 4:30 am. As usual, I would have preferred that there was none but this date display is an integral part of the "El Primero chronograph" style. And imagine what some people would have said if Zenith had removed the date: "You see, they want to clone the Daytona..."!  In any case, the quality of the dial's execution is impeccable. I have a preference from an aesthetic point of view for the white dial version because the sub-dials stand out better. The black dial version is more original, more dynamic and the perceived size is smaller.


The steel case of the Chronomaster Master is also well made even if the rendering is a bit thick. The diameter is 41mm and the thickness is 13,6mm. Nothing shocking, especially with a chronograph. I really like the execution of the ceramic bezel with precise inscriptions. It plays well its role of graduation of the central hand. The pushers are easy to operate because of their shape and they are not screwed. Triggering the chronograph is rather hard but stopping and resetting it is pleasant. Clearly, this is not a Datograph and I have experienced better at this level but the sensations are satisfactory. On the other hand, I found the manual winding of the crown to be more complicated and a bit painful. Fortunately, the need to manually wind the movement is rather rare (the winding efficiency of the El Primero movement is well proven) but I like to turn the crown from time to time.