Zenith El Primero Stratos the first watch to break the sound barrier! Mission in the stratosphere has proved the reliability of Zenith watches under the most extreme conditions!
It is now official – Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th is the first watch to break the sound barrier in a near space environment! Yesterday, whole world was watching as Felix Baumgartner makes the historical space jump from the stratosphere. The world's highest sky-dive, the Red Bull Stratos project, started from the edge of the space, at the amazing height of 39 kilometers (24 mi)and at speed of 1342 km/h (833.9 mph). Felix Baumgartner thus became the 1st man ever to break the speed of sound in free fall as well as the unofficial record for the highest manned balloon flight (37642 meters/23.39 miles).
He also attempted to break the longest free fall record, but he fell around 10 seconds short, as his free fall (that was expected to last between five and six minutes) ended after 4:19. The record for the longest free-fall parachute jump is, therefore, still held by Yevgeni (Eugene) Nikolayevich Andreyev who set the world record on 1 November 1962 when he jumped from the capsule at 25,460 m (83,523 ft) and free fell 24,500 m (80,380 ft) before deploying his parachute.
Zenith's El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th has definitely joined the league of historic and famous watches that accompanied some of the bravest of all men on their quests for pushing the boundaries of human exploration.
Although the Omega Speedmaster is the most famed space watch, there are many other extraordinary historical timepieces worth of mention. It was not the Speedmaster, the most iconic chronograh of all times, the first watch ever worn in space. This title actually belongs to Poljot Strela, which was on the wrist of a retired Russian cosmonaut Alexey Arkhipovich Leonov, as he was making the first human space walk outside the Voskhod 3KD spacecraft, on June 12, 1965. Strela Poljot was the official watch of the Soviet manned space missions until the late 1970's – and the very same thing as The Omega Speedmaster is for NASA. During the Soviet era, this brand (as well as the couple of other Russian brands such as Raketa) were sold in the United Kingdom under the brand name "Sekonda".
And again, before Omega there was also the Breitling Navitimer Chronograph, which was worn by Lt Commander Scott Carpenter, on May 24th 1962. This was during the Aurora 7 mission, when Carpenter orbited the Earth three times in a capsule and when the Breitling's famous model became the first spacegoing wrist chronograph. An interesting piece of trivia, that is rarely mentioned by “official supplier to world aviation” is that the Breitling Navitimer didn't survive a submersion in seawater after the Mercury-Atlas landed in the Atlantic Ocean, and 250 miles off course.
The first Omega Speedmaster worn in space was actually a manually wind piece, since the NASA experts assumed incorrectly that an automatic timepiece wouldn't be capable to wind itself in space. The manual winding Speedmaster Professional, also known as the Moonwatch, was worn during the first American spacewalk during Gemini 4 (June 3, 1965), as well as on the Moon, in Apollo 11 mission.
There are many other less known watches worn in space, such as the Omega Speedmaster X-33, a watch that was actually developed in collaboration between Omega and NASA; or the Sinn 142 chronograph, which was often worn by cosmonauts as the second watch, and now remembered as the second automatic chronograph in space.
Seiko 6139-6002 owned by William Pogue - the first ever automatic chronograph in space
The first ever automatic chronograph in space could be the Seiko 6139-6002, which was worn by Col. William Pogue on Skylab4 mission. This piece was eventually sold at an on-line auction for 5975$. Yuri Gagarin was wearing a mechanical Sturmanskie watch, while the cosmonaut of the China's first space mission in 2003 - Yang Li Wei – wore a Chinese made Fiyta Chronograph, priced at around $200.
Sturmanskie watch for Yuri Gagarin
Chinese space watch Fiyta - Chronograph
The story finally leads us to the Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th, a piece launched in spring of 2011. Zenith El Primero Stratos was at that time marketed as a timekeeping instrument of fighter pilots. This piece, covered in detail in one of my previous articles, is fitted with an exceptional movement that displays tenths of a second, beating at a frequency 25% faster than all other mechanical calibers. The watch is equipped with the flyback function, which uses a push on a single button to stop, reset and restart the chronograph hand. The watch is a commemorative model issued in only 1969 exemplars to mark the year in which the Zenith's iconic El Primero movement was first created. The three different colors on the dial – silver, black and midnight blue – recall the first El Primero chronograph launched in 1969. Let me also mention that the vintage El Primero already proved its reliability under extreme conditions, back in 1970, when it crossed the Atlantic fixed to the landing gear of a Boeing 707 on the flight from Paris to New York!
The watch worn on the Red Bull Stratos mission is the El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th from the permanent offer, but with one interesting commemorative detail. Instead of the sapphire case-back, Baumgartner's watch had a solid case back embossed with his motto, “Learn to love what you have been taught to fear.” The solid back also features an an engraving of the daredevil in his space helmet. This special watch will be available for purchase for literally everyone, as it won't be a limited edition. El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th Tribute to Felix Baumgartner is housed in a 45.5 mm case and crafted from stainless steel. The watch is water resistant to 100 meters and it shares all of the technical specifications with the original model.
Zenith Stratos Flyback Striking 10th Tribute to Felix Baumgartner is priced at $9,200 for the rubber-strap version, or $10,400 if mounted on the steel bracelet.
Author: Marina Milojevic
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