In addition to those two watches, Zenith and Phillips created a unique piece El Primero chronograph with a platinum case and a lapis lazuli dial for the Geneva Watch Auction: X, which ended up selling for CHF 250,000, the highest price ever paid at the time for a Zenith watch at auction all proceeds of the sale of that lot went to benefit Zoe4Life, a Swiss non-profit that is part of the Childhood Cancer International network. A386 and limited to a total of 69 pieces (20 in gold 49 in steel).
The watchmaker and auctioneer created a limited edition pair of two vintage-inspired El Primero wristwatches, inspired by the original ref.
The first collaboration between Zenith and Phillips took place during fall 2019, during the El Primero chronograph movement's year-long 50th-anniversary celebration. The watch industry is all about relationships – and this story is no different. The following story stitches together their combined experiences and breaks down the step-by-step collaborative process that went into producing a revival watch at the level of the Zenith Caliber 135-O Limited Edition and Unique Piece, straight from the sources themselves.
My conversations with them didn't disappoint I walked away from speaking with each partner with insights on not only the watches themselves but also each member's individual enthusiasm for watchmaking, their general corporate business strategies, and the current collector climate at the top of the watch market. It's hard, as you might imagine, to get all of these power players together at one time, so I spoke with Aurel and Alex together and then Kari and Julien in separate but highly entertaining conversations, all over a single afternoon in Geneva over the summer.
A few months ago, I was able to speak with Phillips' Aurel Bacs (Senior Consultant) and Alexandre Ghotbi (Head of Europe and Middle East), Zenith's Julien Tornare (CEO), and Kari Voutilainen about the background and success of their partnership.
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