A proper celebration of the El Primero simply wouldn’t be complete without paying tribute to the man who has become synonymous with the venerable calibre: Charles Vermot.
Charles Vermot was one of the original watchmakers who worked on the first batches of the El Primero movement when it was first introduced 50 years ago. You could call him a spiritual father of the venerated calibre. When the decision was taken to halt the production of the El Primero in 1975 during the advent of the quartz movement, Vermot took it upon himself to safeguard the El Primero for future generations, in the hope that one day Zenith would bring the movement back into production. Working in total secrecy, Charles Vermot had the ingenious idea to gather all the technical plans and tools necessary to produce each and every component of the El Primero movement and tuck them away in hidden walled-off section of the Zenith manufacture’s attic. Like a time capsule waiting to be discovered, the attic was a living memory of the El Primero and the guardian of its future. A Decade later, Vermot’s valiant act would serve as the first building block in bringing the El Primero back to life.
