Zenith and the Rolling Stones: Five Stars to Follow

WHEN TWO LEGENDS MEET…

ZENITH AND THE ROLLING STONES: FIVE STARS TO FOLLOW…

THE STONES ARE BEST UNDERSTOOD AS MUSICIANS, AND THEIR OWN ACCEPTANCE OF THAT FACT IS WHAT HAS ENABLED THEM TO CARRY ON SO WELL FOR SO LONG.

For all the tabloid headlines, Mick Jagger is ultimately an extraordinary lead singer and one of the most riveting performers – in any art form – ever to set foot on a stage. Keith Richards is the propulsive engine that drives the Stones and makes their music instantly recognisable. Their complementary styles, incomparable collaborative genius as songwriters and even their all-too-public battles have made them the very definition of the rock & roll singer/guitarist partnership, battling brothers who have often been imitated and never surpassed. Ron Wood, meanwhile, is a guitarist who has formed a rhythmic union with Richards, but who also colours and textures the band’s songs with deft, melodic touches. And Charlie Watts, needless to say, is one of rock’s greatest, most supple drummers. He is both the rock that anchors the band, and the subtle force that swings it. At once elegant in their simplicity and soaring in their impact, none of his gestures are wasted, all are necessary.

For over fifty years now, this legacy has continued to take shape and their global success shows no signs of slowing down.

AT THE ZENITH OF WATCHMAKING

1860, LE LOCLE, A SMALL VILLAGE PERCHED IN THE MOUNTAINS OF NEUCHATEL. WHEN THE SEASON NO LONGER LENDS ITSELF TO WORKING THE LAND, MORE THAN 3,000 FARMERS PRACTICE VARIOUS WATCHMAKING TRADES INDEPENDENT OF EACH OTHER. DESPITE THIS COMPLETE ISOLATION, HIGHLY-PRIZED KNOW-HOW ABOUNDS.

A young entrepreneur aged barely 22 years old was to revolutionise the manner in which this art was practiced in the region by bringing together all these talents under the roof of what was to become the first industrial watchmaking Manufacture, in the modern sense of the term.

Driven by a constant desire to innovate, Georges Favre-Jacot transmitted a mindset to his colleagues which became a Zenith tradition – that of an entrepreneurial spirit. Thus, over the century and a half to come, the Manufacture Zenith registered 300 patents, created more than 600movement variations and won 2,333chronometry prizes: an absolute record. It was this same spirit which gave rise in 1969 to an integrated chronograph movement – the first of its kind – which beat at the exceptional frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour. Today, the ElPrimero chronograph is a benchmark in its field.

Setting the seal on its newfound friendship with the Rolling Stones, Zenith has created a 250-piece limited edition of this legendary chronograph: the El Primero Chronomaster 1969 Tribute to The Rolling Stones.

EL PRIMERO CHRONOMASTER1969 TRIBUTE TO THEROLLINGSTONES

A LEGENDARY TIMEPIECE FOR A LEGENDARY GROUP: WITH ITS EMBLEMATIC LOGO DEDICATED TO THE ROLLING STONES, THIS TIMEPIECE – ISSUED IN A LIMITED SERIES OF 250 – BEARS THE COLOURS OF THE FIRST EL PRIMERO MODEL IN 1969 AND STANDS OUT WITH THE ICONIC CUT OF THE DIAL WHICH REVEALS THE HEART OF THE MOVEMENT.

MOVEMENT

El Primero 4061,
automatic

282 parts

31 jewels

36,000 vph (5 Hz) frequency

Oscillating weight adorned with “Côtes de Genève” motif

Over 50-hour power reserve

FUNCTIONS

Central hours and minutes

Small seconds at 9 o’clock

Chronograph:

* 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock

* 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock

* Central chronograph hand

* Tachometric scale

CASE

Steel

42 mm diameter

Water-resistant to 10 ATM (100 metres)

Cambered glareproofed sapphire crystal,
special decoration dedicated to the Rolling Stones

DIAL

Sunburst silver-toned

6 o’clock counter
bearing the emblematic “tongue” emblem

Rhodiumed, facetted
hour-markers enhanced with Superluminova SLN C1

STRAP

Black alligator leather with rubber lining

Steel triple folding clasp

The Rolling Stones ARE NOW ON THEIR “14 ON FIRE” TOUR