With LVMH Watch Week kicking off the start of 2024’s new watch season, Zenith has marked the occasion with a handful of new releases, including two brand-new models for the brand’s Chronomaster Sport range of high-beat chronographs.
The modern Zenith Chronomaster Sport line was originally launched early in 2021, and the core of the lineup has been based on steel 41mm chronographs with either black or white dials. We’ve seen expansion into precious metals, two-tone, and a handful of boutique editions over the past couple of years, but today’s announcement adds the option of a green-toned model in steel and a rose gold model with a meteorite dial and no small amount of gems for the bezel and hour markers.
At the core, these watches offer the same functionality as the existing Zenith Chronomaster Sport models, with a high-beat El Primero 3600 column-wheel chronograph movement offering 1/10th of a second resolution (read via the bezel). Regardless of gems and metal, the cases are 41mm wide, and both new versions have the distinctive three-color chronograph subdials that capture running seconds, chronograph seconds (as the central hand is measuring 1/10th), and a 60-minute maximum measure.
What is new is the green colorway for the steel model (along with the choice of a steel bracelet or a green rubber strap) and, of course, the gem-set model and its meteorite dial. That said, green isn’t entirely brand-new, as we saw a similar coloring for a boutique-only edition made in collaboration with Aaron Rodgers last year. Where that model broke the mold with both color and Arabic numerals, these new green models retain the standard model’s baton hour markers.
For the gem-set model, which Zenith Chronomaster Sport describes as “the fanciest iteration of the Chronomaster Sport yet,” the bezel is set with a combination of spinels, sapphires, and diamonds to create a blue/black/grey progression with diamonds at the cardinal markers. This is matched by a really pretty gold-tone meteorite dial with diamond baguette markers and a color-matched date wheel. Fancy indeed, and gems aside, I think the Chronomaster Sport looks great with a meteorite dial.
As far as line extensions go, both of these iterations feel predictable, especially given the Chronomaster Sport’s positioning as Zenith’s answer to the Rolex Daytona. Green remains a popular option in many watch lineups, and the gem-set trend continues to gain traction from many luxury brands (and kudos to Zenith for not just going full rainbow).
While I have to assume both of these options will be niche compared to the black or white-dial offerings from the Zenith Chronomaster Sport (especially with the nearly 6-figure price tag on the gem-set model), we continue to live in an era of watch design that can only be described a SKU-heavy — so why not give prospective buyers more options.
At or around this price segment, the Daytona continues to enjoy unrivaled popularity, so you can’t blame Zenith for doing whatever it can to appeal to buyers – be it green coloring, diamonds, or even meteorite dials.