An Iconic Vintage Chronograph Returns With a Stunning Modern Makeover

It’s now one of the lightest automatic chronographs ever made.

a closeup of a zenith chronograph watch dial

By Johnny Brayson

Published February 7, 2025

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Updated February 7, 2025

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Easy, breezy, beautiful, forged carbon.

The Zenith Chronomaster “Cover Girl” is arguably the most iconic rendition of the brand’s lauded family of El Primero chronographs. Originally released in 1971 just two years after the debut of the El Primero movement — which was the first integrated automatic chronograph movement offered to the public — the “Cover Girl” was originally known by the ref. A3818.

Pairing a 37mm tonneau case with a Gay Frères-designed ladder bracelet, the A3818 featured a blue dial and a bold red seconds hand, along with a number of quirks that set it apart from other El Primero chronographs. These included its combination tachymeter-pulsometer inner bezel, its “shark tooth” race-inspire minute track and its bi-color subdial rings.

the cover of a book about zenith watches — The original Zenith Cover Girl from the 1970s earned its nickname after gracing the cover of this 2009 book.

The watch gained its popular nickname after appearing on the cover of Manfred Rössler’s 2009 book about Zenith and it stuck, further elevating the watch’s status to become the most sought-after reference in Zenith’s illustrious back catalog.

Now, the Cover Girl is back in a nearly unrecognizable and hyper-modernized guise.

Carbon Girl

a zenith chronograph watch on a black log — The new Cover Girl, ready for her closeup.

The new Cover Girl is a collaboration between Zenith and Singapore-based watch publication Revolution, and it’s the third time the two entities have reimagined the watch.

The first redux took place in 2020 in stainless steel as a pretty faithful reissue of the 1970s original. Then in 2022, we got the “Airweight Cover Girl,” which swapped out steel for titanium and featured brighter shades of blue and red on the dial. The new version is the Cover Girl Carbon, and it’s vastly different from any Cover Girl that came before it.

a zenith chronograph watch seen from the side — Almost every aspect of the case has been crafted from forged carbon, including the crown and pushers.

Almost every aspect of the watch has been crafted from lightweight and high-tech forged carbon. That includes the entire 37mm case (save for the caseback), the crown, chronograph pushers, dial and even the available Gay Frères-inspired ladder bracelet.

The bracelet was particularly difficult to manufacture in carbon, and as a result, just ten examples of the bracelet were produced. Most folks who buy the watch will receive a Velcro strap instead, which is fitted with a carbon buckle and features a carbon-inspired pattern.

a zenith chronograph watch on a mans wrist — The 37mm case makes the watch wearable for most wrists.

The futuristic case material and lack of blue and red on the monochrome dial certainly don’t read “Cover Girl” at first, but look closer and you’ll see all other hallmarks of the original A3818 are intact.

The distinctive “shark tooth” racing track has been carried over, and it looks more badass than ever thanks to the watch’s full-lume treatment. The pulsometer/tachy scale is also present — and fully lumed — while the bi-color subdial rings appear in black and white with the subdials’ numeral markings lumed up. Even all of the dial text is lumed, including the “Swiss Made” mark, making the watch quite the stunner in the dark

a zenith chronograph watch glows in the dark — Every mark printed on the dial is coated with Super-LumiNova.

Thanks to the abundant use of carbon, the watch is stupid light. It weighs 55 grams on the strap, and just 59 grams on the bracelet, making it one of the lightest automatic chronographs ever made. The watch’s titanium and sapphire caseback are the only parts of the case that are not made of carbon.

Powering the watch, of course, is an El Primero 400 movement, the modern descendent of the fully integrated, high-beat, automatic, column-wheel chronograph calibre that powered the original Cover Girl in 1971.

Pricing and Availability

With its mix of vintage design elements and sizing with one of the most contemporary and high-tech materials in watchmaking, the Cover Girl Carbon is a lesson in contrast. The result is quite brilliant, as the watch looks incredible and has the high-performance chops to match its supercar-inspired makeover courtesy of its extreme light weight and high-beat El Primero movement.

three zenith chronograph watches — The watch is available on a carbon-effect Velcro strap or a full-carbon ladder bracelet.

The strap version of the watch includes two straps: the previously mentioned Velcro strap featuring an embossed forged carbon pattern, and a black calfskin leather strap that emulates the ladder bracelet. This version is limited to 150 pieces and can be purchased through Zenith or Revolution. Another strap version is exclusive to Revolution and features Hindu-Arabic numerals on the dial and is limited to 50 examples. Both versions retail for $13,400.

The iteration on the carbon ladder bracelet — which is the first of its kind — is limited to just 10 examples, and it’s considerably more expensive due to the complexities involved in its manufacturing. Available exclusively at Revolution, this full-carbon version of the Cover Girl is priced at an eye-popping $29,600.