Zenith Chronograph*** 146 DP*** 1960's - Roy & Sacha Davidoff SA

Zenith Chronograph 146 DP 1960's

OUR ARCHIVE » Zenith Chronograph 146 DP 1960's

ZENITH Vintage 146 DP Chronograph, great condition,1960
Serial # 385Dxxx
Circa: 1960

DESCRIPTION: Good condition Zenith 146 DP 2-counter column-wheel chronograph with silver sunburst finish dial, running well

MOVEMENT: Movado signed Cal. 146 DP 2-register column-wheel chronograph, Hand-wound mechanical, 17 jewels

DIAL: Original black dial with white sub counters, orange tachymeter inner bezel, metallic baton hour markers, large baton minutes hand and triangle hours hand with orange lollipop chronograph sweep seconds hand. Dial signed ‘MOVADO’ at the top and ‘SWISS MADE T’ indicated at the bottom

CASE: 37mm, stainless steel in good condition with Zenith logo and serial number still visible on the case back, pump pushers, screw-down case back, acrylic crystal

BRACELET: Vintage style ‘dark chocolate’ brown suede leather strap

PRODUCER: Zenith

NOTES:
Zenith is one of the most famous watch manufacturers in Switzerland. In 1865, the founder of Zenith, Georges Favre-Jacot, revolutionized watch production by uniting all the watchmaking professions under one roof, thereby inventing the very concept of a Manufacture. In 1911, the Manufacture definitively adopts the name of Zenith, referring to the highest point reached by a heavenly body in the sky and thereby symbolizing the heights of excellence to which the brand with the guiding star has been aspiring ever since.
After having used Excelsior Park movements, Zenith acquired Martel in 1960 and started using these movements instead. During the 1960’s Movado and Zenith were both using the same Martel movement: a Caliber 146 HP 3-register chronograph that was also found in earlier Universal Geneve chronographs prior to 1960. The DP version was a 2 counter version of the same caliber.
The 146HP and DP were the last manual wind chronograph movements used prior to the introduction by Zenith of the El Primero automatic high beat chronograph in 1969. Unlike its competitors, such as Breitling and Heuer, Zenith stopped making manual-wound chronographs shortly after the birth its El Primero caliber and Zenith used only automatic chronographs from that point onwards.