The line of Zenith Captain chronographs is now being enriched with a new horological complication: the annual calendar, which displays the date, the day of the week and the month while requiring just one annual adjustment. Named Captain Winsor Annual Calendar, this timepiece marks the start of a collaboration between the Musée International d’Horlogerie (MIH) and the Manufacture Zenith.
Tracking the origins of the horological complication that lends the Captain Winsor chronograph its distinctive touch leads us to the Musée international d’Horlogerie in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The museum’s curator, Ludwig Oechslin devised a particularly ingenious construction : an annual calendar displaying the day of the week, date and month and that requires only one adjustment per year – a far more accessible complication than the perpetual calendar for many chronograph enthusiasts.
To ensure excellent readability, this display is provided by three concentric discs. The outer disc shows the date, the middle one the month, and the inner one the day of the week. This mechanism is both simple and complex : for 31-day months, the date disc moves the month disc forward; for 30-day months, the month disc makes the 31 “jump”. The only manual adjustment required is for the transition from February to March. The clever, pared-down design of this complication comprises just nine mobile elements, whereas most calendars require between 30 and 40.
The “engine” powering this chronograph expresses the full measure of Zenith’s horological expertise: it is the famous high-precision el Primero movement made in-house by the Manufacture for over 40 years. The el Primero is the only series-produced movement to beat at 36,000 vibrations per hour, meaning one beat every tenth of a second. Zenith reserves this automatic calibre for its own timepieces. The Zenith Captain Winsor model is equipped with the automatic el Primero calibre 4054 version, adorned with Côtes de Genève and circular-graining, and visible through the sapphire crystal case-back.
In its early days, the reputation of the Manufacture in le locle was notably built on the reliability of its marine chronometers, which served to calculate the position of ships at sea. it was the legendary 18th century age of maritime exploration when marine chronometers were first invented, imbued with the thrill of adventure and the call of the open sea, that Zenith wished to evoke in creating the captain line first launched in 1952. The contemporary chronograph versions carry strong references to the 1950s vintage models through a wealth of refined details, including guilloché dials, dauphine hand and hand-applied facetted hour-markers.
The Zenith Captain Winsor Annual Calendar is available in two versions : with a silver-toned or midnight blue dial framed by a steel case; or a silver-toned dial and an pink gold case.
Source: http://watchluxus.com/zenith-captain-winsor-annual-calendar
