El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th © ZENITH
The flight instruments in the cockpit of a fi ghter jet are subjected to abrupt variations in pressure, intense vibrations and violent accelerations - from 9G to 11G. Thanks to its robust construction, the ZENITH Stratos can withstand it all. As the faithful heir of the Rainbow Flyback model developed for the French Air Force in 1997, the Stratos is equipped with the world's most accurate automatic chronograph movement – the mythical El Primero – as well as the Striking 10th and Flyback functions. Accuracy and reliability have been the watchwords of the Manufacture ZENITH since 1865. Very early on, this obsession with accuracy and precision played an important role in aviation and transport. Today, this Manufacture timepiece is becoming established in the fascinating world of military and sporting aviation, where performance and absolute confi dence in one's team members take center stage. Clear for take-off !
The chronometric instrument of the French Air Force
As a manufacturer of navigational chronometric instruments for civil and military aviation, ZENITH proudly presents its new model: the El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th. The original model that inspired this chronograph was the Rainbow Flyback, which was designed according to a set of specifi cations prepared by the French Ministry of Defense. Watches designed for the military are required to meet a much higher number of demanding specifi cations than those required for civilian use, and this has led the ZENITH engineers to enhance the accuracy, endurance and reliability of their creations even further. These instruments must continue to function accurately even in extreme conditions, such as violent acceleration, pressure and temperature variations, vibrations and magnetic fields. Aviation undoubtedly represents one of the most challenging environments for watches and on-board instruments. This newest ZENITH watch features an extremely durable casing and a notched, unidirectional rotating bezel with a black, scratch-proof ceramic disk. A telemeter scale has also been placed on the dial flange. The large date indicator at 6 o'clock features an instant-change mechanism. The rounded sapphire crystal is inspired by the shape of an astrodome – the dome located on the fuselage's dorsal ridge to enable astronavigation.
El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th:
An exceptional movement that displays tenths of a second
The Stratos Flyback Striking 10th is equipped with the El Primero caliber. This integrated column-wheel chronograph movement beats at a high frequency and is 25% faster than all other mechanical calibers. The Striking 10th function visibly displays each beat of this exceptional mechanism – every tenth of every second – which represents the smallest division of time measurable by a mechanical caliber thus far.
The Stratos Striking 10th is also equipped with the Flyback function. While flying, routes are calculated based on predetermined destinations and times. Before the Flyback function was invented, wearers were required to press two different buttons three times each in order to stop, reset and restart the chronograph hand. This is too complicated and slow for pilots at the controls of a fighter jet. Ingenious watchmakers thus developed the Flyback function, which stops, resets and restarts the chronograph with one push of a single button. Pilots can thus recalculate a new route instantly, giving them an advantage that is particularly vital when landing according to a time conveyed by the control tower.
Only 1,969 copies of this limited-edition model will be produced. This number was chosen to mark the year the El Primero movement was fi rst created.
El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th © ZENITH
The three ZENITH colors
Les trois différentes couleurs qui ornent les compteurs sont le signe distinctif rappelant le premier chronographe The three different colors embellishing the counters are a distinct feature that recalls the fi rst El Primero chronograph launched in 1969. At that time, dark dials in black and midnight-blue were the fashion, with matching counters. To enhance readability, however, ZENITH decided to develop a special three-tone dial. These nuances in tones, laid out in a 3-6-9 confi guration, provided superior readability when combined with hands that had been raised off the dial's surface. The selection of a darker color for the hours counter emphasized the impressive length of time it recorded, while the lighter color adopted for the seconds counter symbolized the fl eeting nature of time. The midnight-blue selected for the minutes counter set the chronograph's essential measurements midway between the two other shades. These three counter colors were easy to remember and thus facilitated the reading of the chronograph's indications; this same concept has now been revived on the Stratos Striking 10th (midnight-blue for the 60-second counter at 3 o'clock, anthracite-gray for the 60-minute counter at 6 o'clock and light gray for the small-seconds counter at 9 o'clock).
- The first automatic “El Primero” chronograph to indicate tenths of a second ; the chronograph seconds hand completes one revolution of the dial every 10 seconds
- Follows in the tradition of military chronographs
- Automatic column-wheel chronograph with flyback function
- Movement beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour, developed and manufactured in-house for over 40 years
El Primero Stratos Flyback
The Stratos Flyback comes in four other models: a steel version, a highly resistant black Alchron version, and two different black Alchron and gold versions. Alchron was specifi cally developed for the aeronautical industry and for automobile racing, but this hi-tech alloy is now being used in watchmaking. Its magnetic permeability is 50 times lower than that of steel. This material is also especially resistant to corrosion and boasts very impressive mechanical characteristics. Its Vickers hardness number is 210 HV. Before being integrated into the design of the Stratos, the Alchron was subjected to a battery of tests: its corrosionresistance was tested in saline mists, tropical climates and artifi cial perspiration were simulated, and its impact-resistance was tested with a pendulum striker (a hammer-like steel pendulum fi xed to the end of a swinging arm that drops down and hits the case head-on at full force). It goes without saying that the true goal of these tests was to provide the high-precision El Primero caliber with the best high-strength alloy technology available.
El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th © ZENITH
The Manufacture ZENITH : loyal to a visionary concept
ZENITH has remained faithful to the visionary concept of its founder: to ensure that all its timepieces are entirely produced in-house. Each of its watches has been produced from start to finish by the Manufacture: over approximately nine months, craftsmen from eighty different trades work on each one in turn to guarantee that each watch benefi ts from expertise that has been handed down and perfected by ZENITH for the last one hundred and fifty years. The five different ZENITH Stratos models, all hand-crafted, are heirs to the watches and fl ight instruments that have equipped the instrument panels of Europe's greatest military air fleets.
- Follows in the tradition of military chronographs
- Automatic column-wheel chronograph with power-reserve indicator
- Movement with 36,000 vibrations per hour, developed and manufactured in-house for over 40 years
TECHNICAL DATAS
El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th
MovementEl Primero 4057B, Automatic
Caliber : 13 1/4 ``` (Diameter: 30 mm)
Depth : 6.60 mm
Parts : 326
Jewels : 31
Frequency : 36,000 V/h – (5 Hz)
Power reserve : over 50 hours
Finish : oscillating weight with “Côtes de Genève” pattern
Case, Dial & Hands
Material : stainless steel
Diameter : 45.5 mm
Crystal : sapphire glass with antireflection treatment on both sides
Case back : transparent sapphire glass
Water-resistance : 10 atm / 100 meters
Dial : silver sunray with 3 colored counters
Indexes & numerals : rhodium-plated faceted with Superluminova SLN C1
Hands : rhodium-plated faceted with Superluminova SLN C1
Functions
Hours and minutes in the center
Small seconds at 9 o'clock
Date indicator at 6 o'clock 1/10th of a second chronograph :
60-minute counter at 6 o'clock
60-second counter at 3 o'clock
1/10th of a second indicated by the chronograph hand
Strap & Buckle
Black alligator-leather strap with stainless steel triple folding buckle
Metal bracelet with stainless steel triple folding buckle
El Primero Stratos Flyback
Movement
El Primero 405B, Automatic
Caliber : 13 1/4 ``` (Diameter: 30 mm)
Depth : 6.60 mm
Parts : 331
Jewels : 31
Frequency : 36,000 V/h – (5 Hz)
Power reserve : over 50 hours
· Regulator assembly with fine adjustment
· Central rotor with ball bearings
· Automatic winding in both directions
· Rapid date reset
· Chronograph function
· Column wheel governing chronograph function
Decoration
· Rhodium-plated platinum
· Circular-graining and chamfering on the bridges
· Strokes drawn on the hammers, levers and conveyors
Oscillating weight
Metal oscillating weight with guilloché “Côtes de Genève” motif and revelation of the ZENITH star through skeleton work
Functions
· Hours and minutes in the center
· Small seconds at 9 o'clock
· Chronograph in the center
· 30-minute counter at 3 o'clock
· 12-hour counter at 6 o'clock
· Date indicator at 6 o'clock
· Flyback
Case
Diameter : 45.5 mm
Crystal : sapphire glass with
anti-reflection treatment on both sides
Case back : transparent sapphire glass
Water-resistance : 10 atm / 100 meters
Available models
Available with steel case and black dial on a black alligator-leather and metal strap; with black Alchron case and black dial on a black alligator-leather strap; with two-tone black Alchron and pink-gold case and black dial on a black alligator-leather strap.
