ZENITH - Captain Grand Date Moonphase

 
Press Release

The purest expression of the Zenith watchmaking heritage

Captain: the very name calls up flights of fancy! It evokes long-distance travel, untamed seas, but also the fabulous fortunes made trading in distant outposts… The status of captain was, in the past, reserved for officers who commanded a royal vessel. Nothing of the art and skill of navigation at sea could remain a mystery to the man who aspired to this position. Captain is also a collection that embodies the highest expression of Zenith’S watchmaking heritage. It encompasses an expertise that, like navigation at sea, is passed on from one generation of watchmaker to the next within the Locle Manufacture. The new collection is enriched with three models with complications: Power reserve, Moonphase and Second time zone.

The three new models are inspired by the Captain line created in 1952, a leading collection of Zenith automatic watches. The 2011 collection holds true to the course of the original models. All the expertise of watchmaking– technique, chronometric performance, and aesthetics – is integrated into these three creations that make clear allusions to historic timepieces, with dauphine hands, facetted with rhodium-plating and long markers that are hand-set. The case is enlarged to its present-day size of 40 mm. The development of this collection has been led by technical and chronometric achievement – just as it was 50 years ago. Equipped with Elite calibers, the models of the new generation benefit from an additional half-century of watchmaking experience. The manufactured movements, decorated with Côtes de Genève and circular-graining are visible through a sapphire case back.

Captain Grand Date Moonphase

After the on-board chronometer, the stars were the sailors’ second allies. From their position in the sky, the ship’s latitude was calculated. With the aid of the two coordinates of longitude and latitude, the captain was able to find his position and to define the precise course to follow to reach his destination. The Zenith moonphase model reproduces on its dial the various stages of the lunar cycle – new moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter. The moonphase function was already integrated into Zenith’S pocket watches. This function is displayed in an aperture at six o’clock and the date is displayed at half past one. The Captain Grand Date Moonphase is available in two versions, with a silver “Clou de Paris” guilloché dial in a steel or 18-carat rose gold case. 

Zenith Captain Grand Date Moonphase : 18-carat rose gold with
a silver guilloché dial and a brown alligator-skin strap © Zenith

The three Captains
Designed for men with distinguished taste, each of the three Captains offers an additional useful function. The Captain line associates a stream-lined design and a strong identity; it expresses a very masculine elegance and takes its place in Zenith’s family of “Classical” timepieces. A watch for the high seas, a captain’s watch. 

Captain Grand Date Moonphase

-Grand expression of classic watchmaking

-Ultra-thin automatic watch with large date and moonphase indicator

-Genuine Manufacture movement developed and produced in-house by Zenith

-All the qualities of performance, reliability and precision in an elegant assembly with 228 parts and 28,800 vibrations per hour