Project 99

by Jeffrey M. Stein

If 1968 was a year of change and revolution—with Prague Spring and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Democratic Convention in Chicago, protests at the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, and upheaval across college campuses—1969 could be characterized as a year of “firsts.” The Boeing 747 made its maiden flight in February 1969, followed by the Concorde the following month. Man received the first artificial heart in April, took his first steps on the moon in July, and walked up to the first automated teller machine (ATM) in September. The same year would also witness a milestone in the history of watches—the introduction of the first automatic chronograph.

Over the years, there has been considerable confusion and debate on what would seem to be a relatively straightforward question: Which company (or group of companies) was the first to produce the automatic chronograph? Was it the Chronomatic group (led by Heuer and Breitling), the Zenith venture (which by 1969 included Movado), or Seiko?

In fact, the answer to this question may lie in the precise manner in which the question is phrased. Are we trying to determine which company was first to publicly announce the development of an automatic chronograph? Or do we mean the public introduction of a working sample of the watch? Or is it the first company to display and demonstrate production samples of the watch? Or will we award the prize to the first company or group that made automatic chronographs available to the public, in retail channels? And if we are considering availability in retail channels, will we consider chronographs offered only in a company’s home country or will we award the prize to the company that offered chronographs in multiple markets, around the world?

Let’s roll the clock back to January, 1969, and try to determine which company (or group of companies) was first to announce, introduce, produce, sell or achieve worldwide sales of these automatic chronographs.

Zenith’s Announcement

“In science, the credit goes to the man who convinces the world, not the man to whom the idea first occurs.” Sir Francis Darwin, 1914.

Zenith had begun the development of its automatic chronograph in 1962, hoping to release the watch for its 1965 centennial. Work on the project was suspended, and then restarted, however, so that it took until December 1968 before Zenith had its first prototypes. At that time, Zenith planned to introduce its automatic chronographs at the April 1969 Basel Fair. As rumors began to circulate that the Chronomatic group would show their automatic chronographs before the Basel Fair —with these rumors likely originating with companies supplying components to the Chronomatic group—Zenith decided to make a preemptive announcement of its automatic chronograph.

Determined to be the first to make their announcement, on January 10, 1969, Zenith-Movado held a small press conference in Switzerland, at which they showed a working prototype of their automatic chronograph (or perhaps two or three samples.) This was a local press conference, covered only in local and regional newspapers in Switzerland, and news of Zenith’s automatic chronograph did not receive broad media attention.

In any event, Zenith reinforced its claim to having the first automatic chronograph by calling its new watch the “El Primero” (the first). However, these “El Primeros” only became available to the public in October 1969, making them the third brand to arrive on the market (as described below.) Still, we can be certain that in January, 1969, the Zenith-Movado team publicly announced and showed a working sample of the first automatic chronograph.

Whereas the Chronomatic was as a modular movement, the Zenith movement (caliber 3019 PHC) was a traditional integrated movement, with a classic column wheel. The movement ran at a high beat of 36,000 vibrations per hour, allowing timing in increments of one tenth of a second. The El Primero was a 12-hour chronograph, with the customary tri-compax layout and date window located between 4 and 5 o’clock.

Reaction from the Chronomatic Group

The Chronomatic group had produced 100 prototypes of its automatic chronographs by the fall of 1968, with Heuer and Breitling each allotted forty of these pieces, and Hamilton-Buren receiving ten. (Dubois-Dépraz used the remaining ten prototypes for testing and development.) In retrospect, the Chronomatic group’s production of these prototypes, involving numerous companies that provided the new styles of cases, dials, hands and other components, was most likely to have been the event that tipped off the Zenith team that the Chronomatic group was preparing for the launch of their chronographs.

According to Jack Heuer, there were two distinct phases in the Chronomatic group’s reaction to Zenith’s January 1969 announcement. The Chronomatic team was surprised by the announcement, and at first there was shock and disappointment that Zenith was claiming to have won the race, merely by showing a small number of prototypes. Soon, however, those involved in Project 99 were convinced that the Zenith-Movado group did not have production samples of their automatic chronograph, and that the small, local press conference was a weak attempt to show that they had produced an automatic chronograph, when in fact they were some months away from serial production of these watches.

Any competition from Zenith was further mitigated by the fact that Zenith was a relatively small-scale producer of chronographs at this time, and did not pose a competitive threat in many of the most important markets. For example, Zenith was unable to sell watches in the United States because the Zenith Electronics Company had prior use of the name.
Accordingly, the Chronomatic group chose to largely ignore Zenith’s announcement, and proceed with its own plans to introduce the world’s first automatic chronograph, as if nothing had happened, on January 10, 1969.

The Introduction of the Chronomatics

If the Zenith announcement was a low-key, local event, the flamboyance of the Chronomatic group in announcing the arrival of their automatic chronograph was at the opposite extreme. On March 3, 1969, Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton-Buren held press conferences at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva, Switzerland, and the PanAm Building in New York City, with a large group of media present at these press conferences. Additional press conferences were held in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Beirut.

Mr. Gerald Bauer, President of the Fédération Horlogère Suisse (the Swiss watch industry’s trade association, known as the “FH”) was the keynote speaker at the Geneva press conference, with another FH officer making remarks at the New York press conference. Prototypes of the Chronomatics were shown, and some lucky members of the audience—selected by a drawing—even went home with the very first samples. These March 3, 1969, press conferences were a sensation for the Swiss watch industry—the era of the automatic chronograph had arrived!

For today’s researcher seeking perspective on the race to introduce the first automatic chronographs, the March 1969 issue of the Swiss Watch and Jewelry Journal (“SWJJ”) witnesses the coronation of the Chronomatic project, a celebration of the victorious Heuer / Breitling / Hamilton-Buren partnership. The front cover proclaims that a “secret project” has resulted in the launch of a new type of watch, the “self-winding chronograph,” and the hyperbole increases from page-to-page.

In six pages of editorial content, we read of the Swiss watch industry reasserting its “supremacy” through a revolution in watchmaking, with “wild excitement” about the modular approach. The President of the Swiss Federation of Watch Manufacturers’ Associations described the “courageous realism” of the partners. Eight pages of advertising by Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton-Buren add to the frenzy, with an important theme being that consumers will no longer need to decide between an automatic watch and a chronograph—now they can have both, with the Chronomatics.

Compared with the splash made by the Chronomatic group in the March 1969 issue of the SWJJ, with six pages of coverage and eight pages of advertisements, Zenith’s presence in this periodical seems almost sad. Six sentences announce that Zenith will—at some unspecified date—be offering two models of its automatic chronograph; a single advertisement shows one chronograph.