The Zenith Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar was a stand out release last year, and every addition that’s been made to the line since somehow manages to bring out a new flattering element of the design. It’s a watch that can seemingly do no wrong. Today, we’re getting the latest entry, and it gets a stunning lapis lazuli blue stone dial that works exactly as well as you’d expect within this design. The deep blue organic dial brings a new aesthetic to bear, while also bringing a sense of depth with its layers.
Lapis lazuli is a material familiar to the watch world, appearing on an increasingly diverse range of watches, even sportier watches, such as this example from Zenith. It’s got plenty of range thanks to its deep blue base color, and the flecks of gold (pyrite) bring an organic level of randomness that makes each section truly unique. Here, the slice of stone is accented by bright silver at the sub-dials and steel case, with one small, potentially clashing exception.
As we’ve covered in the past, this watch uses the El Primero caliber 3610, which brings a full calendar to the dial, with the day and month displays sitting at two and ten o’clock, respectively. This movement also gets a moonphase display nested in the sub-dial at six o’clock. The disc used to display the phases of the moon has been rendered in black and gold, as well as blue and silver. Here, Zenith have used the blue disc, and there’s far more green in this hue than the natural hue of the lapis dial. The black disc with gold accents would have been a better compliment to the dial to my eye, as the stone has natural gold accents within, but it’s a very small detail, and it doesn’t ruin the look by any stretch.
The rest of the watch remains unchanged, with a steel case measuring 38mm in diameter, and 14mm in thickness. It’s a great package all around, and the additional configuration is certainly welcome. Zenith is pricing this watch at $22,700, which feels slightly aggressive considering the fact that other watches that use lapis lazuli are priced within shouting distance of their non-stone equipped counterparts. The base example of this watch is priced at $13,400, and I’m not sure the stone itself represents an additional $9,300 of value. Plenty of ~$1,000 watches use this material, and it’s not clear what the difference is between this particular slab of lapis that makes it worth the premium.
Whatever the case, there’s no denying the beauty of this watch, and I’m happy to see Zenith continue to explore materials using this watch as a platform. I’d love to see them explore new bracelet options as well, such a mesh or brick road style unit. This really is an incredibly versatile design, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Zenith