Truly Beastly: Zenith El Primero Sub Sea

A true wild child of the 1970s, Zenith’s El Primero diver was a one-off design. There wasn’t anything like it before and I suspect there won’t be anything like it again. In an attempt to capture some of the burgeoning market, the brand took the 3019 high-beat movement and cased it in this wild beast. At 44mm, it’s huge even by modern standards. The design shuns word like clean, simple, or elegant. The Sub Sea features multiple scales, an unnecessary granularity to the seconds track, a full 3 registers, an off-center date, and for some odd reason, a blue seconds hand. It’s a properly brutish, busy thing.  Call it a weekender and one could probably get away with it (I love it).

Find it here from Vintage Caliber for 5341 USD.