Zenith has a long and storied history of making iconic military watches — its original 1960s CP-2 (for cronometro da polso, or “wrist chronograph“) was retailed by Cairelli to the Italian Air Force for issue to its pilots. The brand’s latest, the Pilot Cronometro Tipo CP-2, honors that legacy of building military instruments through a partnership with the Wounded Warrior Project, established in 2003 to aid U.S. military veterans and their families. It’s a limited run of 50 pieces, it’s pretty good-looking, and most importantly, it benefits our servicemembers.
The new CP-2 features a color scheme inspired by the American flag, with a beautiful matte blue dial, matching aluminum bezel ring, red triangle and red chronograph second hand. A blue kudu-hide strap with red and white stitching complement the patriotic look of the watch itself.
While clearly a modern update of the original CP-2 (of which there have been several in recent years), there are some significant changes here, most notable among them being the addition of the automatic El Primero 405B column-wheel chronograph movement with 50-hour power reserve, and a jump in case diameter to 43mm. Functions include a small-seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock, 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, central chronograph hand and flyback chronograph. A domed sapphire crystal with AR coating, transparent sapphire case back and C1 SuperLuminova round out the modern feature set.
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