The new Zenith Heritage Pilot Café Racer just released at Baselworld 2016, is a perfect addition to the Pilot Montre d'Aeronef Type 20 line-up. Equipped with a gray-greenish vintage looking dial, the watch offers perfect readability. The new Zenith Heritage Pilot Café Racer proudly takes its place in this iconic line composed of sleek, powerful watches. With a sturdy retro feel, the new Zenith Heritage Pilot CaféRacer is inspired by the ‘Café Racer’ bikers movement born in England in the 1920s.
A new model with a strong character joins the pilot collection from Zenith. Its broad 45 mm diameter aged steel case houses the legendary automatic El primero 4069 chronograph calibre with a 30-minute chronograph register at 3 o'clock. The new Zenith creation evokes the powerful bikes and the strong character of the 'Café Racer' movement.
The slate grey-greenish dial with a grained motif is punctuated by two counters and topped by a domed sapphire crystal. The facetted hands and Arabic numerals with their beige luminescent coating stand out clearly against the dial background. The dial has different hues depending on lighting conditions ranging from solid grey to olive greenish at times. Its texture is really inspiring and vintage looking.
The case measuring 45 mm in diameter is finished resembling aged steel and is equipped with the traditional pilot’s watch attributes with large welded lugs and a wide onion-shaped screw-down crown take on a vintage character.
To make things even more vintage looking, the new Zenith Heritage Pilot Café Racer is fitted with an olive green oily nubuck rubber-lined strap with a titanium pin buckle. The rugged and distressed look of the strap accentuates the authentic nature of this watch intended for fans of all things vintage and motor bikes.
Stemming from a legendary line of movements —the world’s most accurate chronograph calibre developed by Zenith in 1969— the automatic El Primero Calibre 4069 beats at the impressive frequency of 36,000 vph, powering a tenth of a second chronograph display. It drives central hours and minutes hands, small seconds at 9 o’clock alongside the chronograph functions, while delivering 50-hour power reserve. The new Zenith Heritage Pilot Café Racer is fitted with a solid titanium case back, carefully engraved with the inscription “Café Racer Spirit” and a vintage bike on it.
On the wrist, the watch wears true to its size and quite comfortably. The wrist presence is unparalleled and this is a watch that takes you to distant remote biking meccas as soon as you strap it on. We can only imagine how well it would look paired with a nice rugged biker distressed leather jacket. Below you will two wristshots showing how different the watch looks depending on lighting conditions.
Sticker Price $7,100 USD. For more info on Zenith click here.
