Zenith’s vaunted history as a producer of military chronographs for the Italian Army is on display in the new Pilot Cronometro Tipo CP-2 Flyback, an update to a 2016 model that was itself a tribute to the 2,500 pieces the brand created for the Italian armed forces in the 1960s.
The 2016 model, known as the Heritage Cronometro Tipo CP-2, revived what collectors affectionately call the “Cairelli watch” (because it was commissioned five decades ago by the Rome dealership A. Cairelli). The military chronograph was known by the designation CP, which translates as cronometro di polso, or wrist chronometer.
This year’s re-issue houses an automatic El Primero column-wheel chronograph movement with flyback function within a 43 mm case. Despite its fashionable styling, the model has all the attributes of a bona fide military timepiece, including hands designed for readability, easily accessible pushers, and an easy-to-read bezel.
Available either in a bronze case with a matching bronze grained dial on a brown oily nubuck leather strap or in a case of aged stainless steel with a slate-gray grained dial on a green oily leather strap, the Pilot Cronometro Tipo CP-2 Flyback is retro chic watchmaking at its finest.
$7,700; zenith-watches.com