In January, the replica Zenith El Primero celebrated its 50th anniversary with a limited-edition boxed wine that continues to this day. At Baselworld we saw a trio of A386 tribute watches that retain the original three-color dials but introduce yellow, white, and rose gold cases. A few months later we got a heritage-focused take on the El Primero A384, with its more architectural case and black-and-white dial. After that, we’ve also seen the Chronomaster El Primero C.01 x Collective; the A384 “Edge of Space,” created with the Bamford Watch Department and Mr. Porter; the A386 Revival Fine Watch Club Edition; and, absolutely, the El Primero Revival G381, created for our friends over in the HODINKEE Shop. It’s been a year for harvest.
However, it looks like the celebrations will end in November when Phillips will auction a unique, platinum El Primero honoring the original 1969 A386. This is the first A386-style El Primero to feature a platinum case, and it is also the first El Primero to come with a lapis lazuli dial. This one-of-a-kind watch was co-designed by Zenith and members of the Phillips watch department. Bacs & Russo co-founder Livia Russo is famous in the vintage watch community as a lover of stone dials, so the choice of Lapis here should come as no surprise.
According to Phillips, this model’s name will simply be the “One Off,” nodding to its special status among best replica watches. The project began when Zenith reached out to Phillips about creating a watch honoring the 50th anniversary of its most popular caliber. A number of designs were considered, but finally, two were shortlisted, both featuring the original Zenith A386 case – and this beauty won out. 
Upon seeing pictures of this fake watch for the first time, the case indeed registered to me as being that of the original round El Primeros dating from the late ’60s. What struck me, however, was that the original A386 was not a standard dial; its overlapping tricolor dial was at least as symbolic of the A386 as its case and movement. However, this watch’s dial, with two large sub-dials at three and nine o’clock and a much smaller one at six, seems to point to the original G381, which was a yellow gold piece with a black-and-white dial.
As El Primeros go though, this particular 37.5mm chronograph in solid platinum with Lapis dial is what the kids might call a “flex.” Something worth paying attention to is that the very same weekend in Geneva, another unique El Primero is going up for auction over at Only Watch. While the white gold Only Watch example looks more like your traditional A386 fare, it’s my opinion that this platinum-and-Lapis replica watch is definitely the cooler of the two.
It is also notable that auction houses have taken a more active role in finding lots. Typically, auction houses accept consigned watches and sell them. Actually, it is very simple. But here we see Phillips actually designing a new watch with a brand and then auctioning it off
