Zenith El Primero Lightweight Watches: 2013, 2014, and 2025 Models

The first Zenith El Primero Lightweight debuted in 2013, featuring a special lightweight version of its beloved El Primero movement and a case made of woven carbon fiber and aluminum. Another version appeared in 2014, also featuring a skeletonized dial and a 45mm diameter. Those were the lightest automatic chronograph watches ever made, but as of 2025, Zenith has beaten their own record with a 55-gram forged carbon fiber model. Although the head of the newest model is actually slightly heavier, the strap is significantly lighter. And there’s an even more impressive full bracelet version that weighs only 4 grams more. Here’s our rundown of all three types of ultra-light Zenith El Primero watches.

The Original Zenith El Primero Lightweight

When the first Zenith El Primero Lightweight (ref. 10.2260.4052W/98.R573) debuted in 2013, the “Striking 10th” movement was only three years old. It’s a pretty cool concept: the chronograph seconds hand rotates fully around the dial once every ten seconds, so there’s plenty of space to read the time to the tenth of a second.

Most modern automatic luxury watches beat 8 times per second, but all El Primero movements are considered “high-beat” because they beat 10 times per second. And because the chronograph seconds hand doesn’t count up to a full minute on a Striking 10th, there has to be a 60-second chronograph subdial, which is unusual.

Zenith fans will be familiar with the overlapping tri-color subdial configuration (silver, black and blue) and the El Primero Lightweight is openworked and skeletonized to save weight (and look cool). The checkerboard pattern of the woven carbon fiber case looks cool, too, but it’s not entirely carbon fiber; there’s a ceramized aluminum core. Although the watch’s style is pretty aggressive, the case shape itself is just like any other 45mm Chronomaster–fairly standard for a chronograph.

If you’re familiar with secondhand Zenith watch prices, it might not surprise you that the original El Primero Lightweight watch is readily available for sale in 2025, unworn, for over 40% off its list price of $22,700…even though it was limited to 100 pieces and released in 2013. To me, Zenith is definitely an underrated watch brand and people are sleeping on these El Primero Lightweight models.

Zenith El Primero Lightweight 400B

In 2014, Zenith released the second El Primero Lightweight model, ref. 10.2260.400/69.R573. Basically it’s the same watch as the first one, but with a standard chronograph layout instead of the Striking 10th. It has its own special lightweight skeletonized movement, the El Primero 400B Titanium. And it has a blue chronograph hand instead of red. It was also a little bit cheaper (closer to $19,000 MSRP) and less rare (250 pieces instead of 100) than the original Lightweight.

Chronomaster Revival A3818 “Cover Girl Carbon”

The original Zenith A3818 “Cover Girl” is one of the most iconic and sought-after vintage El Primero chronographs, with its nickname stemming from its appearance on the cover of Manfred Rössler’s book Zenith: Swiss Watch Manufacture Since 1865, which is considered a definitive guide to Zenith watches. Its blue brushed vertical dial, “shark tooth” chronograph track (with alternating minute hash lengths that form “teeth” around the edge of the dial), and combined pulsometer/tachymeter scale are its hallmarks.

You really only need the first 1/4th of the bezel for a pulsometer scale, as doctors tend to count 15 seconds for heartrate measurements, whereas the first 1/4th of the bezel is useless as a tachymeter (unless you’re going over 240mph). So, it makes sense to combine the useful parts of both scales. When Zenith made modern reissues of the Cover Girl in 2020 (steel) and 2022 (titanium) in collaboration with Revolution Watch, they retained all the key visual signatures, including blue dials and Gay Frères-inspired ladder bracelets.

The third Zenith x Revolution Cover Girl release is also the third ultra-lightweight Zenith El Primero, although it wasn’t officially given the “Lightweight” moniker. As with all Cover Girls, the 2025 “Cover Girl Carbon” has an angular tonneau case with a 37mm diameter and strong 1970’s vibes. Zenith’s name for models with this shape is “Chronomaster Revival.”

Only 210 of these Zenith El Primero Chronomaster Revival A3818 “Cover Girl Carbon” models will be made, 50 of which will have Eastern Arabic numerals. The attractive monochromatic bowling ball-esque texture of the carbon fiber is random and thus unique on every watch. This time, it’s not woven carbon fiber. The cases of these lightweight Zenith El Primero Cover Girl models are “milled from blocks of solid carbon fiber” according to Revolution. No more aluminum cores.

The lumed numbers on the dial and rehaut are a nice touch.

With a starting price of $12,320, this 2025 Zenith release is actually significantly cheaper than the 2013 and 2014 El Primero Lightweight models. That makes sense given that, surprisingly, they gave it the regular El Primero 400 movement–not the lightweight (but costly) 400B Titanium. Thus, the head of the Cover Girl Carbon is actually 2.32 grams heavier than the original Lightweight despite being significantly smaller (37mm vs 45mm).

But the strap is much lighter, so overall (55g on a strap or 59g on a bracelet) this is a lighter production watch than the 2013 or 2014 Lightweights (both over 70g). The strap version, in my opinion, isn’t the star here, though–it’s the carbon fiber ladder bracelet option. The bracelet weighs only 14g, which is incredible, although it’s a $14,890 upcharge. They’re only making ten of them on a bracelet.

With a total a weight of 59g, this is the only full-bracelet watch under 60g that I’m aware of aside from the six-figure Bulgari Octo Finissimo Ultra line. Now let’s go over the specs of all three Lightweights.

Specs

Feature	El Primero Lightweight (2013)	El Primero Lightweight (2014)	Chronomaster Revival A3818 “Cover Girl Carbon” (2025)
Reference	10.2260.4052W/98.R573	10.2260.400/69.R573	Standard Dial (Velcro): 03.A3818.400/CF.V001 Eastern Arabic Dial (Velcro): 03.A3818.400/CF.V002 Standard Dial (Bracelet): 03.A3818.400/CF.B001
Movement	El Primero 4052 W Striking 10th	El Primero 400B Titanium	El Primero 400
Movement Weight	15.45 g	15.9 g	21.1 g
Movement Functions	Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, chronograph with “Striking 10th” hand that rotates every 10 seconds	Hours, minutes, small seconds, date, chronograph	Hours, minutes, small seconds, date at 4:30, chronograph
Case Material	Woven carbon fiber with ceramized aluminum inner structure	Woven carbon fiber with ceramized aluminum inner structure	Milled high-modulus forged carbon fiber with titanium caseback
Pushers & Crown	Titanium	Titanium	Forged carbon fiber
Case Diameter	45 mm	45 mm	37 mm
Case Thickness	13.2 mm	13.2 mm	12.5 mm
Dial Design	Openworked with tri-color sub-dials	Openworked with tri-color sub-dials	Matte black carbon fiber with “shark tooth” scale
Weight (Watch Head)	42.68 g	Approx. 40 g	45 g
Weight (Including Strap)	74 g	72 g	55 g (Velcro strap) 59 g (Ladder bracelet)
Power Reserve	50 hours	50 hours	50 hours
Water Resistance	100 m	100 m	50 m
Bracelet/Strap	Black rubber strap with Nomex synthetic fiber overlay	Black rubber strap	Carbon fiber-effect Velcro strap or carbon ladder bracelet
Limited Edition	100 pieces	250 pieces	210 pieces (150 standard Velcro, 50 Eastern Arabic, 10 bracelet)
MSRP at Launch	$22,700	$~19,000	$12,320 (Velcro strap) $27,210 (Ladder bracelet)

Zenith Lightweight Watches vs. Competitors

When it comes to the world of ultra-lightweight watchmaking, there’s no way around it–Ming is the king right now. They made an automatic watch–the LW.01 Automatic–that weighs only 12.6 grams including the strap (they also made a manual-wind version that’s only 10.6 grams). With a list price around $21,500 and a case made of the AZ31 magnesium alloy, these Mings are significantly lighter than anything else on the market. I don’t think anything has even come close yet except for the Behrens Ultralight 11G, which weighs 16 grams on a strap, and it’s a manual-wind model with an unusual bi-retrograde time display.

To compare to one of the top luxury watch brands, the Omega Aqua Terra Ultra Light costs 2.5x as much ($53,400) as the LW.01 Automatic and is more than 4x heavier (55 grams). 55 grams is also the weight of the newest Zenith El Primero Lightweight on a strap. Given that the new Zenith is roughly 1/4th the price of the Omega, and that Omega’s Ultra Light isn’t a chronograph, it’s hard to fathom anyone buying the Omega without a massive discount. If you want the lightest mechanical watch in the world, you’ll go with Ming, and if you want the lightest automatic chronograph in the world, Zenith (still) holds that title. And Zenith’s carbon fiber cases are undoubtedly the toughest and most scratch-resistant of the bunch.

Zenith’s sister company Bulgari (also owned by LVMH) isn’t too far behind; they make the thinnest watch in the world with a chronograph function. The titanium version of that Bulgari Octo Finissimo GMT Chronograph weighs 55 grams as well–but without the strap. The world’s lightest mechanical chronograph overall is a Richard Mille. Incredibly, its movement weighs only 7 grams despite being a split-seconds chronograph with a tourbillon! Compare that to Zenith’s lightweight chronograph movements weighing in at over 15 grams. Built with a combination of titanium and a graphene-infused carbon composite, the RM 50-03 Tourbillon Split Seconds Chronograph Ultralight McLaren F1 weighs just 40 grams including the strap.

But, that Richard Mille isn’t automatic. Zenith is still #1 in the realm of lightweight automatic chronographs, and I expect the Cover Girl Carbon to sell much quicker than the first two Leightweight models, given the popularity of the Cover Girl configuration and the more approachable price. Or maybe the watch market will continue to sleep on Zenith. Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if Zenith eventually puts their Lightweight movement in the new 37mm forged carbon fiber case to break records yet again. We’ll see.