Zenith is expanding their popular Chronomaster Sport collection in an unexpected direction this week with the introduction of the Skeleton Chronograph. The move comes after a recent focus within the Defy collection, and looks to reinvigorate the brand’s modern Sport Chronograph that made waves when it was first introduced in 2021. An openworked dial is something we’ve come to expect within the Defy collection, but this marks the first such appearance within the Chronomaster Sport, and it’s being handled in a unique fashion with a fume style gradient applied to a clear dial plate. It’s a new look, and a rather unexpected one at that.
The Chronomaster Sport Chronograph has seen some interesting iterations since its release, including a monotone titanium reference that feels the most unique of the bunch. Still, there’s plenty of room to evolve with this design, and I think that the titanium reference is about as close as Zenith has come to finding a sweet spot to build on. With the Skeleton Chronograph, the brand takes a step away from that, and toward a more commercial friendly stance with a clear dial.
Broadly speaking, sporty, toolish chronographs generally aren’t designs that need to see a lot of drama. The Chronomaster Original collection feels like a more appropriate area for this kind of a thing, but if I’m being honest, I rarely find skeleton dials very compelling (with few exceptions). Even within the more expressive Defy collection, open dials generally reveal areas of the movement that I probably don’t need to see (at best), and obscure the practical elements that I do need to see (at worst). This Sport Skeleton Chronograph falls into that camp, and the use of a smoked sapphire shows an additional lack of commitment to the idea.
The dial reveals a partial view of the back end of the El Primero 3600SK, which doesn’t exactly allow for a view of many vital components. It’s mostly the backs of plates and bridges with a view of the escape wheel at nine o’clock. The edge of the dial is smoked, which does offer some reprieve as far as legibility is concerned, though all three of the sub-dials at the inner portion of the dial are nearly completely lost against the movement view.
The Chronomaster Sport Chronograph is an objectively handsome watch, though an open dial doesn’t exactly play into its strengths. Instead, that personality is almost entirely lost at a glance. The black ceramic bezel remains, as does the 41mm steel case that features a mix of polished and brushed finishes. Additionally, a green bezel variation is also being offered, as is a rose gold case on a rubber strap which, strangely, works the best of the bunch. Finally, a full rose gold with gem set bezel is also on offer.
One positive detail about this release is the introduction of a new clasp that features a quick adjustment mechanism, which can be used on the fly without having to remove the watch. A welcome quality of life feature that’s quickly becoming the ante to play.
Inside is the Zenith El Primero 3600SK which is capable of timing down a tenth of a second, meaning when the chronograph is started, the timing hand will complete a full lap of the dial in just 10 seconds. Also worthy of note, the date at 4:30 has been removed, a step we don’t see very often from Zenith. Pricing is set at $16,700 for the steel references, and $31,500 for the rose gold. Zenith
