Three new modelsZENITH Captain - The purest expression of the ZENITH watch making heritage
Captain: the very name calls up flights of fancy! It evokes long-distance travel, untamed seas, but also the fabulous fortunes made trading in distant outposts… The status of captain was, in the past, reserved for officers who commanded a royal vessel. Nothing of the art and skill of navigation at sea could remain a mystery to the man who aspired to this position.
Captain is also a collection that embodies the highest expression of ZENITH’S watchmaking heritage. It encompasses an expertise that, like navigation at sea, is passed on from one generation of watchmaker to the next within the Locle Manufacture. The new collection is enriched with three models with complications: power reserve, moonphase and second time zone.
The three new models are inspired by the Captain line created in 1952, a leading collection of ZENITH automatic watches. The 2011 collection holds true to the course of the original models. All the expertise of watchmaking– technique, chronometric performance, and aesthetics – is integrated into these three creations that make clear allusions to historic timepieces, with dauphine hands, facetted with rhodium-plating and long markers that are hand-set. The case is enlarged to its present-day size of 40 mm. The development of this collection has been led by technical and chronometric achievement – just as it was 50 years ago. Equipped with Elite calibers, the models of the new generation benefit from an additional half-century of watchmaking experience. The manufactured movements, decorated with Côtes de Genève and circular-graining are visible through a sapphire case back.
Captain Power Reserve
The power reserve was one of the vital functions of marine chronometers upon which the precise calculation of longitude depended. On board, this instrument was treated with exceptional care; the survival of the whole crew depended on its precision. For the person in charge of its maintenance, the power reserve function meant that the rewinding could be optimized by knowing the precise tension of the barrel spring. This useful function appeared very early in the history of the ZENITH Manufacture, which registered an initial patent as early as 1910 to protect this exclusive system. The Captain Power Reserve is equipped with an ultra-thin movement only 4.675 mm thick, with the power reserve indicator positioned at two o’clock and the date at six o’clock. This timepiece is available in three versions with a silver or black “Clou de Paris” guilloché dial, in a steel case or with a silver dial in an 18-carat rose gold case.
Captain Grand Date Moonphase
After the on-board chronometer, the stars were the sailors’ second allies. From their position in the sky, the ship’s latitude was calculated. With the aid of the two coordinates of longitude and latitude, the captain was able to find his position and to define the precise course to follow to reach his destination. The ZENITH moonphase model reproduces on its dial the various stages of the lunar cycle – new moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter. The moonphase function was already integrated into ZENITH’S pocket watches. This function is displayed in an aperture at six o’clock and the date is displayed at half past one. The Captain Grand Date Moonphase is available in two versions, with a silver “Clou de Paris” guilloché dial in a steel or 18-carat rose gold case.
Captain Dual Time
Let us leave the oceans for a moment to explore navigation in the air. Watches equipped with the GMT function are the direct descendants of the conquest of the skies. In 1955, ZENITH presented a multi-time-zone watch intended for air pilots; this model was inspired by ZENITH’S aerial navigation instruments that had been integrated into the dashboards of cockpits since 1920. The Captain Dual Time model is equipped with a GMT hand with a different design, with a blue pointer that ensures optimal readability. This hand is set using a push-piece at 10 o’clock. This mechanism makes it possible to adjust the second time zone with a simple gesture, without risking the deregulation of the time on the watch. The Captain Dual Time is available in two versions with a silver or black “Clou de Paris” guilloché dial, in a steel case, with a metal bracelet or alligator-skin strap.
The three Captains
Designed for men with distinguished taste, each of the three Captains offers an additional useful function. The Captain line associates a stream-lined design and a strong identity; it expresses a very masculine elegance and takes its place in ZENITH’S family of “Classical” timepieces. A watch for the high seas, a captain’s watch.