Vintage Movado Datron HS 360 El Primero Chronograph- SOLD
Most are familiar with the story of the race for the first automatic chronograph in 1969 and some of the outstanding watches of the period that came from it, like the Heuer Autavia 1163, Hamilton Chrono-Matic, Seiko 6139, and of course the original Zenith A series El Primero powered chronographs. The high beat El Primero is the only one of these movement lines still in production today nearly 50 years later, a testament of durability that speaks for itself for Zenith's accomplishment.
Zenith partnered with Movado in 1969 to launch a run of El Primero powered watches called the Datron HS360, although the earliest examples were signed slightly differently. Zenith dropped the jewel count to 17 to to reduce US import taxes during the period and called this caliber the 3019PHC.
The Datron is a great embodiment of the watchmaking style of the late 60s and early 70s, with a 38mm cushion shaped case and a blue "panda" style dial with polished hour markers and hands. Hodinkee did a great write up on the Datron in 2015 which you can read here explaining the model further.
The example we have here is in great shape with a sharp, unpolished case and great dial and hand set. This watch also comes on its original signed bracelet which is itself a rare find.
Take a look at the photos and our condition rundown below.
Case: 38mm stainless steel case in excellent vintage condition. The case shows only minor surface wear as pictured and appears unpolished with the original case lines and brushing present.
Dial/Hands: Original matte blue dial with contrasting subdials and outer tachymetre ring and polished applied hour markers with centered tritium lume. The dial is in excellent condition as pictured with no significant signs of wear. The hands are polished steel with original tritium.
Caseback: Solid steel caseback in good condition as pictured complete with sub-sea engraving and signed inner engravings. The caseback appears to have been swapped at some point in the past, and while it is correct for a Datron, it looks to be from a gold-plated variant due to the additional "base metal" text.
Crystal: Domed acrylic crystal in very good condition with only light wear.
Movement: Original Zenith El Primero caliber 3019PHC movement with 17 jewels. The movement is in excellent mechanical condition with all functions working including the quickset date. The chronograph starts, stops, and resets to zero, although the minute counter occasionally resets slightly to the right of zero.
Bracelet/Strap: Original stainless steel bracelet in very good condition with minor stretching. Clasp is signed and has a crisp original stamping.
Accessories: None, sold as watch only.