In 1972, an adventurer named John Blashford-Snell led an expedition through the Darién Gap, an inhospitable swampland between Columbia and Panama. The 100-mile swath is known as the “missing link,” because it constitutes a gap in the Pan-American highway that would otherwise link Central and South America. Blashford-Snell (who counts among his achievements the invention of white-water rafting), chose a Land Rover for the expedition and wore a Zenith watch on his wrist. Today, Land Rover and Zenith are announcing a reunion of sorts: a partnership to launch the Zenith Range Rover watch collection, commemorating their shared legacy as makers of high-performance luxury products. Land Rover's Range Rover model is its signature four-wheel drive SUV. The company introduced the first prototype for a luxury off-road vehicle in 1969, the same year Zenith unveiled its signature El Primero chronograph movement, a high-frequency caliber that is legendary in watchmaking and still used today.
The inaugural watch, the El Primero Range Rover Special Edition, is a tribute to the first luxury SUV, with a brushed grey dial marked “Zenith Range Rover.” The case is made of aluminum – a nod to the Range Rover chassis – coated with ceramic for extra toughness. The El Primero Caliber 400B movement is visible through the caseback. The rotor bears the Zenith and Range Rover logos. It has fast-paced beat of 36,000 vibrations per hour enabling it to power a tenth-of-a-second display, and its integrated column-wheel construction. “Zenith and Range Rover are both pioneers in our respective industries,” says Aldo Magada, President and CEO of Zenith. “Both brands express authentic luxury.”
“The Zenith El Primero is one of the most distinctive watch designs ever produced, in my view,” says Land Rover Chief Design Officer Gerry McGovern, who says that when collaborating on the design of the new collection, “We looked to the reductive nature of a modern Range Rover interior, and the Zenith team translated that into the dial of the watch, keeping it simple and unfussy. The matte finish simultaneously suggests understatement, sophistication and durability – like a Range Rover.” The watch is priced at $7,700.
