Zenith Sporto

Since the early 1900s, Zenith has been awarded more than 1,500 top observatory awards for chronometry — an incredible feat for a manufacture that has only been partially discovered by American collectors.  

20th-century Zenith is largely associated with the El Primero movement, the mechanism that made its way into many Zenith and Movado watches throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. By '88, Rolex, having no automatic chronograph of their own, began using the El Primero in their Daytona line in lieu of the Valjouz 72 manual-winding unit.  

Rolex's adoption of the El Primero helped to heighten Zenith's presence in the global market — in fact, it may have saved the brand. For American enthusiasts and collectors in particular, Zenith was little known — a trademark conflict with the American Zenith Radio Corporation had kept the company from distributing in the States. Finally, in the late 1970s, the trademark dispute was settled.  

The barring of Zenith distribution inside the U.S. had led to significant dearth of early Zeniths on the market and a distinct lack of enthusiasm for the brand's models from the 1940s, '50s and '60s.  

This lovely little Zenith from the 1950s is a Sporto. In production alongside models like the Pilot and the Defy, it was designed to accompany the wearer during a wide range of activities — it could absorb the shock of a game of tennis and still look good on the wrist while sipping gin and tonics at the club, for example. In addition to its robust movement, the Sporto came with inner acrylic case back, providing greater dust and vapor protection.  Pretty wild for the mid-20th century!

This particular Sporto is housed in a 34mm stainless steel case with an acrylic crystal, a signed crown, and a smooth bezel. It features a silvered dial with applied triangular and stylized 'Arabic' indices; a matching, luminous 'dauphine' handset; and a running seconds register with sunburst finish and crosshairs above 6 o'clock. Its snapback caseback protects the manually-wound Zenith Calibre 126 movement, while a signed taupe leather strap with a signed stainless steel pin buckle finishes the package.

But that's not all — aside from some light wear to the case and patina to the dial, this watch is in untouched condition, accompanied by its original hangtag. A simple, unassuming watch, the Zenith Sporto has great style and one of the better movements from the period. Don't miss out on this excellent expression from a by-gone era!