'Prima' in 800 Silver, Red 24-Hour Track, c.1922-1925
This is a Zenith open-face pocket watch of the early 1920s, carrying the maker's Prima designation - the grade Zenith reserved for its better movements. Zenith, founded at Le Locle in 1865, was one of the few Swiss houses to manufacture its movements entirely in-house, and by the turn of the century it had assembled one of the most decorated award records in the industry. The gold-medal cluster engraved on this watch's inner dust cover records the Grand Prix at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900, the highest distinction available and one Zenith won against the whole field of world watchmaking. A century later that same cuvette engraving remains one of the most recognisable marks of quality on an antique Swiss watch.
The movement is the reason to own it. Signed ZENITH, 17 JEWELS, PRIMA and numbered 2974370, it is a gilt lever calibre with a jewelled centre wheel and micrometer regulator, finished to a standard above the ordinary 17-jewel Swiss movement of the period. It winds smoothly, sets cleanly and runs well. The movement serial places manufacture in the region of 1922 to 1925.
The dial is where this example separates itself. It is white enamel, unblemished, with no chips or hairlines, laid out with elegant Breguet-style Arabic numerals and a sunk subsidiary seconds at six. Running around the outside is a full 24-hour track printed in red, a dual civil-and-military display far less common than a plain twelve-hour chapter, giving the dial real presence. At 54.5mm across, this is a large, substantial watch that shows the dial off to its best.
The case is 0.800 standard silver, made for the German market and struck inside the back with the crown-and-crescent (Halbmond und Krone) national mark, the 0.800 fineness stamp and an oval maker's punch. The back is engine-turned in a fine barleycorn pattern and centred with a shield cartouche carrying the original owner's engraved monogram, a personal touch that ties the watch to its first owner. The case is honest and complete, with wear consistent with age and no dents, and both the back and the inner dust cover close securely.
Taken together this is a genuinely collectable Zenith: the maker's better movement grade, an uncommon 24-hour enamel dial in perfect order, a large silver case with award provenance on the cuvette, and a watch that runs as it should. For a collector who values originality, the dial alone is the kind of enamel condition that is increasingly hard to find on a watch of this age. It is offered ready to carry or display, researched and described in full. No box or papers. Sold as described, from a private collection.
