Zenith

Zenith has been a manufacture in Le Locle since 1865 and made the El Primero, the high-frequency automatic chronograph of 1969 that still powers most of its watches. BeepWear lists six pre-owned Zenith watches from $5,923 to $38,200 with a median of $9,450: two Chronomaster Sports, two Defys, a Pilot flyback chronograph and a Captain moonphase. Each is inspected before listing and photographed as the actual watch, and orders ship insured within the United States.

Which Zenith watches are in stock? The Pilot Flyback Chronograph 11.2240.405 at $5,923. The Captain Ultra Thin Moonphase 16.2310.692 at $8,300. The Defy Skyline 41mm in steel, 03.9300.3620, at $8,400. The Chronomaster Sport in steel, 03.3100.3600 on a black dial, at $10,500. The Defy El Primero 21 Chronograph 44mm in rose gold, 18.9000.9004, at $27,900. And the Chronomaster Sport 41mm in rose gold, 18.3101.3600, at $38,200.

What does a pre-owned Zenith cost? Four of the six are under $11,000: the Pilot at $5,923, the Captain at $8,300, the Defy Skyline at $8,400 and the steel Chronomaster Sport at $10,500. The two rose gold pieces are $27,900 and $38,200. The same Chronomaster Sport appears here in steel and in rose gold, so the $27,700 between them is the price of the metal and the bracelet, not the movement.

What is the El Primero? The automatic chronograph calibre Zenith launched in January 1969, beating at 36,000 vibrations an hour so the chronograph hand can read to a tenth of a second. It survived the quartz years because a watchmaker hid the tooling rather than scrap it, and it went on to power Rolex Daytonas in the 1990s. The Chronomaster Sport uses the El Primero 3600, which reads tenths on the bezel with a hand that sweeps the dial once every ten seconds. The Defy El Primero 21 goes further, timing to a hundredth of a second with a separate escapement for the chronograph.

Chronomaster Sport or Defy Skyline? The Chronomaster Sport is the chronograph: a 41mm case, ceramic bezel with the tenth-of-a-second scale and the tri-colour subdials Zenith has used since 1969. The Defy Skyline is the three-hand watch in the angular Defy case with an integrated bracelet; it has no chronograph but its seconds hand also makes a full turn every ten seconds, from the same high-frequency base. If you want the El Primero story and a chronograph, the Chronomaster Sport is the one; if you want an everyday steel sports watch with an integrated bracelet, the Skyline at $8,400 is the better buy.

What should you check before buying a used Zenith chronograph? Start the chronograph and watch the central hand: on a 3600-calibre Chronomaster it should complete a lap of the dial in exactly ten seconds, and on any El Primero it should stop dead and reset to zero. Check that the pushers are firm. A high-frequency movement needs service on schedule more than a slow-beat one, so ask when it was last done. Every piece here was inspected before it was listed.

How does BeepWear list and ship these? One listing per watch, with the reference in the title and the current price. Orders ship insured within the United States; the authenticity guarantee, the returns policy and the warranty terms each have their own page. The chronographs also appear in the chronograph collection and the Pilot under pilot watches.