Editor’s Note: Watches & Wonders (formerly SIHH) and Baselworld 2020 are canceled but that hasn’t stopped watch brands large and small from debuting their new wares. To stay on top of this year’s best new watch releases, visit our tag page.
The year was 1969 (the same year that Zenith introduced its famous El Primero automatic chronograph), and in the debut episode of the Japanese manga Lupin the Third, the protagonist was depicted wearing a cutting-edge Zenith watch. This was a fictional, cartoon interpretation of the Zenith A384 with a dial imagined by the artist, but it’s fictional no longer, and is available in Japan as the Zenith A384 Revival Lupin The Third Edition.
For its 50th anniversary, Zenith reverse-engineered one of the first watches to contain the El Primero movement and introduced the El Primero A384 Revival watch, meant to be historically faithful in almost every way, right down to its 37mm steel case. With the A384 Revival as its base, the new Lupin The Third Edition equips it with the dial created by the cartoonist, which features gray subdials and gold hands and markers. Unlike the 1969 original, it features a display case back for viewing the El Primero 400 movement inside and a printed image of the manga’s lead character.
Pricing for the Zenith A384 Revival Lupin The Third Edition is not yet confirmed, but it’s expected to be close to that of the standard A384 Revival, which costs $7,600. The Lupin Edition, however, is only available in Japan and is limited to 50 pieces.
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