Back in 2020, Zenith released the Chronomaster Revival Liberty, a North American exclusive limited edition that is still one of the most popular of the A384 reissues we’ve seen. In fact, you could probably make a case that the early success of this particular A384 revival laid the groundwork for all that came after (and there have been many of these A384s released in the last six years). The original Liberty, with its red and white chronograph seconds hand and subtle blue fumé dial, was an attractive watch regardless of whether you saw it as part of a patriotic exercise. So it’s no surprise that Zenith has gone back to the well with the new Chronomaster Revival Liberty II. Coming as it does in the year of America’s 250th anniversary, the brand is leaning a bit harder into the connection Zenith has always had to the United States with this release.
Part of the conceit of the Chronomaster Revival Liberty II is that Zenith’s founder, George Favre-Jacot, was inspired by the watchmaking industry in America in the way he built the Zenith brand. In the middle part of the 19th century, the Swiss watch industry worked largely on an éstablissage system, which meant individual components were to be produced separately before final assembly. When Favre-Jacot visited the United States as a young man, he encountered a much more industrialized and efficient way of making a watch, which served as a model for the early days of Zenith.
To that end, the Chronomaster Revival Liberty II is loaded with red, white and blue, in a way not dissimilar to the first Liberty from 2020. The key difference is that the blue and white elements on the dial have been inverted. The Liberty II has a white lacquered main dial with blue subdials at 3, 6, and 9, and we have the same red and white chronograph seconds hand, with 13 “stripes” in alternating colors, a reference to the original 13 colonies and the American flag. On the tachymeter scale, “250” has been highlighted in red to highlight the anniversary year and Independence Day itself.
Of course this is all built on the A384 platform, which is a 37mm tonneau shaped case in stainless steel. In addition to the steel variant, Zenith is making a forged carbon version in very limited quantities. Regardless of the material, the 37mm A384 case is a classic, and wears incredibly well on just about any wrist. It’s a great example of one of Zenith’s key strengths, which is dipping into their archives and knowing what they can mess with (dial colors, and materials) and what they unequivocally got right the first time (the case here is essentially identical to the original).
The Chronomaster Revival Liberty II runs on the El Primero 400 movement, an automatic chronograph caliber running at 5 Hz and capable of timing to the tenth of a second. On a full wind, the El Primero 400 has a power reserve of around 50 hours, and it’s visible through an exhibition caseback.
The steel version of the Chronomaster Revival Liberty II is a limited edition of 250 pieces, and the forged carbon version is limited to 25 pieces. In steel, the retail price is $10,600, while the forged carbon will sell for $13,400. More information can be found on the Zenith website here.
