The Concours d’Elégance Suisse took place last weekend against the sumptuous backdrop of Switzerland’s Château de Coppet. Le Locle watchmaker Zenith, the proud sponsor of the event, took the opportunity to celebrate the return of a great automobile tradition to French-speaking Switzerland.
The contest gave classic car collectors and enthusiasts an opportunity to share their passion with other lovers of fine coachwork. Technical excellence and a passion for fine mechanics are both part of Zenith’s identity, so it is only logical that the brand should ally its name and expertise to a classic car event.
For those who are unfamiliar with the concept, in former days a “concours d’élégance” was a form of beauty pageant for cars, intended to showcase the sublime work of the coachbuilders commissioned to dress cars in the same way as couturiers would dress women. Even today, collectors continue to invest in major restoration projects, with the aim of taking the car back as close as possible to its original condition, while retaining the essential marks of the passage of time that bear witness to its venerable history.
“We are delighted to be a part of the first Concours d’Elégance Suisse, a weekend among friends and like-minded enthusiasts of fine mechanics, whether in cars or watches,” declared Aldo Magada at the opening of the event.
While the weather was not especially kind, a considerable crowd of classic car enthusiasts flocked to the Château de Coppet to look at, photograph and even sit at the wheel of a variety of vintage automobiles. Every year, the Concours d’Elégance Suisse chooses a particular period of 20th-century car history to celebrate, showcasing a representative sample of cars that illustrate their influence on the era. This year, “Future Classics” dated between 1970 and 1985 featured in the Concours d’Elégance for the first time.
Throughout the two-day exhibition of cars, many of which are rarely seen in public, Zenith presented some of its Haute Horlogerie pieces that best illustrate the brand’s Swiss expertise. One of them was the El Primero 36,000 VPH Classic Cars, a horological tribute to the prestigious world of the classic car. At its heart purrs the automatic chronograph El Primero 400B calibre with a frequency of 36,000 VPH. The timepiece offers hour, central minutes, small seconds, chronograph and date functions. With a power reserve of over 50 hours, the El Primero 36,000 VPH Classic Cars epitomises mechanical beauty of every kind.
Housed in a brushed stainless steel case with fluted crown and two round pushers, this model uses colour to great effect, the three chronograph counters in light grey, anthracite and blue enhancing the watch’s sporty credentials. The anthracite grey dial, enhanced by a tachymeter scale, provides a lustrous foil for the slim red central sweep-seconds hand and luminescent faceted hands and hour markers. The El Primero 36,000 VPH Classic Cars is water resistant to 100 metres, and may be attached to the wrist of any gentleman driver by means of a vintage-style strap in rubber-lined perforated brown calfskin with a triple folding clasp in steel.
