The Elite Classic might not initially be the most exciting timepiece in the Zenith collection. As a seemingly simple three-hander with a date complication, it faces heavy competition for attention from its siblings. As always, it is the silent types that you have to look out for, as the Elite Classic is a horological delicacy in disguise.

While it may sound a bit smug to call your collection ‘Elite,’ this Zenith has no problem living up to just that. The core of this is its movement. The current generation of the Elite movement can be traced back to the early 1990s when Zenith was looking into developing a sturdy and reliable automatic caliber for the modern era. Under the guidance of then-technical director Jean-Pierre Gerber, this ambitious project embarked. This ambition was focused not only on creating a movement that was sturdy and reliable but also pleasantly slim so that complications could be added later on. Torque was, therefore, also an essential factor, as was power reserve. Gerber was assisted in this task by Carole Forestier, who would later on head movement development for Cartier and is now part of TAG Heuer, working for the consulting company Conseilray at the time. Gerber and his team succeeded in their ambitious task in a most marvelous way. So well that with some updates over the years, the Elite caliber is still a modern, high performer. This is also underscored that other brands used it in their own watches, like Daniel Roth and Hublo...