Zenith El Primero Ref. G581 18K Solid Gold 'Panda Dial'

Ref. G581 was part of the family of the early El Primero automatic chronographs that, along with the Calibre 11 movement and the Seiko reference 6139, were introduced in 1969 as part of the first three automatic chronograph movements brought to market.

It is said that Zenith produced only 250 examples of this reference. A true rare bird to the collector’s market.

The present example is one of very few ref. G581 models known to the market and it is, arguably, the finest in terms of condition. In all original and unmolested condition, the flawless ‘panda dial’ has perfectly matching lume hour markers and hands, a beautiful tachometric scale in black/dark gray contrasting with the bone-white dial and pairing with the same colored sub-registers. The red chrono sweep hand gives it a spark of color. The hour markers in gold pair with the unpolished 18k solid gold case with snap unpolished case back were you can easily read the serial number dating it back to 1969. Original small pushers, original signed crown and original Zenith golden buckle complete this magnificent piece.

The extraordinary caliber 3019 PHC by Zenith has been fully serviced by our watchmaker and it’s shinning bright, running great, keeping excellent time and all the functions (date and chronograph) are working perfectly.

This is indeed a great opportunity to own what to us is the best example of a legendary watch and reference under extinction.