Zenith is on an incredible trajectory at the moment, their sales are through the roof, many of their models fetch a nice premium in the secondary market and they are firing on all cylinders. I have one Zenith in my collection, a Defy 21 El Primero for exactly one year, and love that watch! Now when Hodinkee is involved in a collab I am all ears. Having bought 2 of these collabs myself so far, I appreciate how Hodinkee usually brings something cool and different to the table. Ok, except with travel/desk watches maybe. But they didn’t disappoint this time!
Design and Watch Specifications
Dimensions: 38mm diameter, 12.7mm thickness, 46.2mm lug-to-lug, sapphire crystal, 60- hours power reserve, lug width: 19mm, Chronograph Caliber 3600, steel case and bracelet, salmon, Opaline dial, SuperLuminova, Water Resistance 50m
The “Zenith Chronomaster Original Limited Edition for Hodinkee” features Zenith’s latest movement, a classic case of 38mm, and an incredibly cool Salmon color dial. And for all the critics out there – yes, the date wheel is in dial color. Which makes the date window at 4:30 disappear should you be in the camp: “date needs to be at 3 or 6”. I appreciate the date at 4 as it gets out of the way of the indices and subdials in this particular watch. 
The watch is 12.6mm tall so follows the standard Chronomaster Original as introduced in 2021 but is reminiscent of the A386 from 1969. The dial is really well done with color tones that work extremely well together, the salmon works great with the grey and silver subdials. The bracelet is a tapered steel bracelet with polished center links. My only criticism is the “One of 300” engraving instead of a limited edition number. 
Movement
No Zenith watch alert can be complete without talking about the movement. Here we see a Zenith caliber 3600, column wheel, 36,000 vph high beat rate, and the signature feature of having a chronograph secondhand that makes one revolution around the dial every 10 seconds – 6 times per minute. The movement features a silicon escape wheel that actually drives the second hand directly instead of driving it from the fourth wheel like the caliber 400 before. The power reserve is plentiful for a high-beat movement with 60 hours. 
Price & Availability
The watch can be yours for $9,500 via the Hodinkee shop with deliveries starting for the first 75 pieces within days and for the remaining 75 pieces in August. Of the 300 pieces 150 will be sold by Hodinkee in their shop (and it’s already sold out at the time of writing) and the other 150 will be sold on Zenith’s own e-commerce platform. 
Concluding Thoughts
They did it again. A brilliant Hodinkee-fied “version” of the classic Chronomaster Original. I am quite glad that with all the Tiffany, mint, and skyblue-colored dials, salmon dials get a small resurgence with this release. Making it clear it’s not hype but is here to stay as part of the general color offerings of brands. It’s a great watch for a fair price – the limited edition is priced exactly like the permanent collection. Two thumbs up from me. I am hoping to get a salmon-dialed Chronomaster Original in the future – maybe with black subdials….Congratulations to Zenith and Hodinkee for a very successful model! 
Ralf aka koolpep lives and works in Dubai, UAE.
If he is not travelling for work or on Safari in Africa, or on a race track, he loves to talk and collect watches and deep dives into the audiophile headphone abyss.
