Zenith Strips Chronograph Complication From Flagship Chronomaster Line

Zenith is opening Geneva Watch Days 2026 with the Chronomaster Solo Sport, the first three-hand watch in the Chronomaster collection. The three-piece edit shifts the focus from chronograph functions to the high-frequency performance of its legendary El Primero. A movement that shaped modern watchmaking, it was first introduced in 1969 as the world’s first automatic integrated high-frequency chronograph calibre, establishing a new technical standard through its 5 Hz regulating organ. Despite its many accolades, the El Primero has never wound up in a piece that takes itself too seriously – the Chronomaster family’s sportiness always worked perfectly with the high-precision functionality. But with the new Solo Sport (although the key word is still in the name), the Chronomaster feels a lot more everyday and relaxed. It’s also probably no coincidence that the launch is timed for Geneva Watch Days, which takes over the city with a decidedly more chilled-out vibe compared to the intensity of Watches and Wonders. In terms of specs, the new Chronomaster Solo Sport arrives with a 40mm stainless-steel case, paired with a unidirectional ceramic bezel. Water resistant to 200 metres, ceramic dials are matched to the bezels in black, white and brown, plus a black no-date version ($9,900) is also offered alongside the date models (£9,700/$10,900). These ceramic dials introduce a new visual si

Zenith’s Chronomaster Sport arrived in January 2021 with a fairly compelling proposition. It took the historical ingredients associated with El Primero, including the three overlapping counters first seen on the A386 in 1969, and put them into a contemporary 41mm steel sports chronograph with a ceramic bezel. More importantly, its El Primero 3600 used its 5Hz frequency to measure 1/10th of a second, the central chronograph hand completing a lap of the dial every 10 seconds. In November that year, the Chronomaster Sport won the GPHG Chronograph Watch Prize. Five years later, Zenith has decided to see what happens when you take the chronograph out of it – a move that means far more than simply losing a pair of pushers and three subdials. El Primero was born in 1969 as an automatic high-frequency chronograph calibre, and Chronomaster has become inseparable from that function. Yet here is a 40mm Chronomaster displaying hours, minutes and central seconds, with a date on three of the four versions. In other respects, the new watch is actually more sporty than the Chronomaster Sport. Water resistance rises from 100 to 200 meters, the crown screws down and gains protectors, and the fixed 1/10th-second scale of the Chronomaster Sport is replaced by a unidirectional rotating ceramic bezel. It begins to look almost dive-watch adjacent, although Zenith stops short of calling it one. Inside