Movement: automatic Caliber 4130 with column wheel and vertical clutch chronograph, 72-hour power resreve, C.O.S.C. Quick Facts Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona 116500LN-0001Ĭase: 40 x 12.3 mm, stainless steel, 100-meter water resistance with screw-down crown Movement: automatic El Primero Caliber 3600 with lateral clutch column wheel chronograph, 60-hour power reserve, 36,000 vph/5 Hz frequency, silicon escapement, flat hairspring, 10-second foudroyantįunctions: hours, minutes, hacking seconds date, foudroyant chronograph The Chronomaster Sport is Swiss engineering’s equivalent of present-day Lynyrd Skynyrd: neither a cover act nor all original blood, but still a blast.įor more information, please visit Quick Facts Zenith Chronomaster Sport 03.3100.3600/21.M3100Ĭase: 41 x 13.8 mm, stainless steel, 100-meter water resistance with push-down crown With the benefit of wrist time, head-to-head comparison, and reflection, a more balanced view of the Zenith puts the contentious watch in perspective. And, no, the Rolex isn’t four times better than the Zenith.įrom its January launch, the Chronomaster Sport’s appearance has drawn immediate comparisons to the Rolex Daytona. The Zenith, by comparison, is available both new and used for approximately its retail price. Reality bites in the form of years-long dealer waiting lists for the Rolex and markups approaching $40,000 to buy the watch immediately preowned. As of October 2021, the steel Rolex Daytona retails for $13,150, and the Zenith Chronomaster Sport retails for $9,500 on a strap or $10,000 on a bracelet. Instead, we have a watch-nerd brand looking to find a fashion footing in a world where its celebrated movements often struggle for aesthetic identity. But Zenith isn’t Omega, and the Chronomaster Sport won’t cost Rolex a single Daytona sale. Rolex Cosmograph Daytona (left) and Zenith Chronomaster SportĪ larger watch brand or a more direct market rival to Rolex probably wouldn’t have risked a watch like the Chronomaster Sport. All due regard to the danger of small sample sizes, but most collectors who encountered the Chronomaster Sport came away impressed and convinced that the watch is more of a Daytona rival than a Daytona knockoff. Everyone wants to see it, try it, and judge it for themselves. Many watch collectors associate this subjectively beefy feel with luxury, and the Sport’s wrist feel is more tangible than the lighter Daytona.Ĭompliments from watch folks come fast and furious, and the Chronomaster Sport’s controversial origins make it a rare attention magnet from low-profile Zenith. There’s a reassuring solidity to the Chronomaster Sport, which benefits from its relatively chunky proportions and considerable weight. On the wrist, it’s easy to forget about the clasp, and the fidgety bracelet need be sized only once. Constructed of thin gauge-stamped steel and externally perforated for sizing adjustments, this clasp looks and feels like a relic of the last century or something suitable for a sub-$2K sports watch in 2021. Ironically, the Zenith clasp feels like a throwback to the Oyster clasps of the 1990s – the era of the Zenith-powered Daytona. Not only is this the design element most directly drawn from Rolex, but the quality feels out of step with the remainder of the Chronomaster. The deployant clasp is the low point of this Zenith. That means owners will require a specialized jig or Philippe Dufour-level dexterity with twin flatheads to size their bracelets without leaving scars.īracelets and deployant clasps of the Zenith Chronomaster Sport (left) and Rolex Cosmograph Daytona Although the three-link Chronomaster Sport bracelet is solid enough and all links are removable, the counter-torqued links include screw heads on both sides. Zenith’s design trades heavily on Oyster precedent, but the result falls short. The Zenith, by comparison, looks just as sharp in either configuration.Īs strong as the Chronomaster Sport is, the weak link lies among the links of the bracelet. While aftermarket firms are happy to assist, Rolex never intended for the 116500LN generation of the Cosmograph Daytona to include a strap, and swapping to a non-OEM solution often looks awkward. The Chronomaster Sport’s factory strap offering puts more daylight between it and the Daytona. Hands and indices are unique to the model and reflect a clear break with anything happening on Rue François-Dussaud. A 4:30 date indicator hews closely to El Primero history, and the overlapping tri-tone registers at center are straight off the Zenith A386 of 1969. The colors take clear cues from The Crown in Geneva, but the details are all Le Locle.
Zenith offers both white and black dial options – which does nothing to discourage the Rolex comparisons.
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