Few would dispute that one of Zenith's most iconic models is the famous "Rainbow" – created in the 90s for the needs of the French Ministry of Defence, this watch embodies a great deal of modernism and has deservedly become one of the icons of horological art in general. We have always wanted to see the return of the "Rainbow" – until the launch of the watch presented here, Zenith had played with the design of some of its El Primero chronographs, but none of them could be called a direct successor to the legendary "Rainbow". With the appearance of the El Primero Stratos FLYBACK at Baselworld 2011, all doubts were dispelled – this was the true successor to the legend, and after the launch of the El Primero Stratos Rainbow, this was further solidified by the color scheme of the dial.
October 14, 2012 – this date will always be remembered, as it was on this day that Felix Baumgartner set a world record, making a free-fall jump from the edge of the stratosphere – and the Zenith brand was proudly displayed on the capsule, the balloon, and the daredevil's spacesuit.
In fact, the watch presented here is the foundation upon which the original watch of Felix Baumgartner was developed – the differences are minimal. The first is the dial – his has 3 colored circles, and the other is the case back – in his case, it is solid with a relief image of the Austrian. Everything else is the same.
This watch carries that perfect balance between sportiness and sophistication that every lover of horological art seeks, asking themselves the question: "If I were to have only one watch, what should it be?". The level of detail is fantastic, with all this texture and purity of execution. We can boldly say that after the flirtation with rough and overly sporty designs at the beginning of the new millennium, Zenith returns to its traditions of presenting elegant timepieces with great design. And regardless of the fact that this watch is more of a representative of the brand's sports line, it cannot be denied that it has an incredible presence and a superb finish.
The watch holds in its heart the brand's in-house Zenith El Primero caliber 405B movement. It operates at 36,000 vibrations (5 Hz) and has a power reserve of over 50 hours. It features a 12-hour chronograph with a column wheel and a FLYBACK complication. The layout of the dial is fantastic, and we really like this new style with overlapping subdials. The transparent case back provides an opportunity to enjoy this movement – note the new rotor design, another very beautiful innovation.
The case of the Stratos is a modern 45.5 mm, but regardless of its impressive size, it feels very comfortable on the wrist – we admit that the size was one of the things that caught our attention even before seeing it in person. This particular watch comes with an original metal bracelet (the most expensive option offered by the brand for this model, over 20% more expensive than the others) with the new, much more comfortable Zenith deployant clasp and a large star on the buckle. The other modern feature used in the watch is the ceramic bezel insert in a dark grey color (note that to turn the bezel, it is necessary to depress it slightly towards the case – which prevents accidental rotations).
The dial is extremely good-looking and legible - everything is in the right proportions, and the hands are very visible against the black dial. The hour markers are applied and are coated with SuperLuminova. The other distinctive feature of this model and an innovation for the brand is an inner "flange" positioned at a 90-degree angle to the dial, on which a partial minute scale is printed – this brings a great deal of elegance and aristocracy. The sapphire has a double anti-reflective coating, which allows for viewing the indications without any hindrance or distortion.
The present watch is fitted with the original Zenith bracelet (the other options are a crocodile strap and rubber) with dimensions of 23 mm at the lugs and 18 mm at the clasp.
This Stratos is powered by the classic El Primero caliber 405 chronograph with the Flyback complication.
We really like the Flyback (and this one from Zenith especially), which was originally invented to help pilots reset their chronograph and immediately start a new time measurement.
This complication introduces not many, but significant changes to the base caliber 400 – the main difference is that unlike a conventional chronograph, with the Flyback, the lower pusher of the chronograph acquires another function: with the chronograph running, it can reset and restart the chronograph with a single press. This seemingly small difference is very significant, valued by fans of the brand, and increases the value of the timepieces.
The bezel is unidirectional with 60 clicks and, of course, as one would expect, is perfectly aligned with the inner markings. The crown is screw-down, the chronograph pushers are of the rectangular type – sufficiently large in size and require a certain amount of force to press, which from our point of view is a plus, as it makes your actions more deliberate.
As an overall impression, we can say that this Zenith is the most beautiful, completely balanced, and multifunctional timepiece from this brand (and is undoubtedly one of the best we have ever had).
