Collectors 1969 Movado / Zenith El Primero FIRST 100 MADE Vintage Chronograph
Item History & Price
Once in a lifetime find: selling for original owner who bought this timepiece in 1970 as one of first 100 ever made in 1969.
This is a pre-HS 390 model 434-705-502 (look at the dial: Movado did not come up w the HS-360 branding until 1970)
Dial is faded to "Ghost gray/bluish" with patina. Very clear and readable with raised silver "M" logo.Serial number is only 2 digits "X5" -- all example on Chrono24 are 3 and 4 digit serial numbersEarly El Primero movement: "A" series, si...gned "3019 PHC" . "Zenith" . "31 Jewels"Singed 7 times: Dial, movement, inside caseback, outside case back, winding crown, bracelet inside, bracelet outsideComes with original box, warranty card (has not been filled out) and original braceletUntouched: un-cleaned, un-polished, crystal not replaced -- all 100% factory original from almost 50 years ago.The watch works great: keeps real good time and easily runs over 24 hours with chrono running and resetting to perfect zero. Here is a 1 hour time-lapse video showing the chrono working and resetting perfectly:
Movado El Primero - YouTubeVideo will open in a new window
Using the eBay App? Paste link into a browser window:[isdntekvideo]From Hodinkee:The Movado Datron HS360, A More Budget-Friendly El PrimeroOne of the most fascinating and important milestones in wristwatch history was the race to manufacture the world’s first self-winding chronograph. This race culminated in 1969 with three factions crossing the finish line with competing claims to the prize – the Project 99 group of Heuer, Hamilton-Buren, Dubois-Depraz and Breitling, Seiko, and Zenith. And while we’re not going to go into the nuances of each party’s claims here, suffice it to say, any one of these early automatic chronographs is a special one to own. But with the exception of some Seiko 6139 chronos, the early Chrono-matics and especially Zenith El Primeros come with fairly high price tags, which is why the Movado Datron HS360 is such an appealing option...back in the 1960s and '70s, Movado was in partnership with Zenith and sold some fantastic watches. The Datron HS360 is one of them...The Datron HS360, which first appeared in late 1969 or early '70 with the name “Datachron HS360, ” had much of the same DNA as the Zenith, and of course that fantastic 3019PHC El Primero movement, beating along at 36, 000 vibrations per hour and capable of tracking elapsed time down to 1/10th of a second.
Read more here: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/just-because-the-movado-datron-hs360
This is a pre-HS 390 model 434-705-502 (look at the dial: Movado did not come up w the HS-360 branding until 1970)
Dial is faded to "Ghost gray/bluish" with patina. Very clear and readable with raised silver "M" logo.Serial number is only 2 digits "X5" -- all example on Chrono24 are 3 and 4 digit serial numbersEarly El Primero movement: "A" series, si...gned "3019 PHC" . "Zenith" . "31 Jewels"Singed 7 times: Dial, movement, inside caseback, outside case back, winding crown, bracelet inside, bracelet outsideComes with original box, warranty card (has not been filled out) and original braceletUntouched: un-cleaned, un-polished, crystal not replaced -- all 100% factory original from almost 50 years ago.The watch works great: keeps real good time and easily runs over 24 hours with chrono running and resetting to perfect zero. Here is a 1 hour time-lapse video showing the chrono working and resetting perfectly:
Movado El Primero - YouTubeVideo will open in a new window
Using the eBay App? Paste link into a browser window:[isdntekvideo]From Hodinkee:The Movado Datron HS360, A More Budget-Friendly El PrimeroOne of the most fascinating and important milestones in wristwatch history was the race to manufacture the world’s first self-winding chronograph. This race culminated in 1969 with three factions crossing the finish line with competing claims to the prize – the Project 99 group of Heuer, Hamilton-Buren, Dubois-Depraz and Breitling, Seiko, and Zenith. And while we’re not going to go into the nuances of each party’s claims here, suffice it to say, any one of these early automatic chronographs is a special one to own. But with the exception of some Seiko 6139 chronos, the early Chrono-matics and especially Zenith El Primeros come with fairly high price tags, which is why the Movado Datron HS360 is such an appealing option...back in the 1960s and '70s, Movado was in partnership with Zenith and sold some fantastic watches. The Datron HS360 is one of them...The Datron HS360, which first appeared in late 1969 or early '70 with the name “Datachron HS360, ” had much of the same DNA as the Zenith, and of course that fantastic 3019PHC El Primero movement, beating along at 36, 000 vibrations per hour and capable of tracking elapsed time down to 1/10th of a second.
Read more here: https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/just-because-the-movado-datron-hs360
