On October 14th this year, Zenith officially opened the doors to their new Ginza Boutique in Japan. Alongside the opening of this boutique, the luxury Swiss brand also released the new Chronomaster Revival Lupin The Third – 2nd edition. As a trifecta of unveilings, the brand also showcased its latest concept, termed “Zenith Icons”.
The new Ginza boutique is located on Tokyo’s premier luxury shopping area, on Namiki Street in the Ginza District. The Ginza boutique is said to place storytelling as the central theme, as they offer visitors multisensory experience with unique tales about Zenith in new and interactive ways.
The entrance to the boutique is given a sense of warmth as Zenith has used warm neutral tones, which then give way to a central blue element that stretches from the floor to the ceiling, giving the impression of a starry night sky. The storytelling concept comes into play with the boutique’s “Story Bar”, which allows visitors to dive deeper into the Zenith universe. This Story Bar has videos about the brand’s most emblematic watches, as well as the individuals that made Zenith what it is today and left a lasting mark on the Manufacture. The Ginza boutique will feature many of Zenith’s timepieces with an arrangement of limited and exclusive editions being presented as well.
An impressive feature of the Ginza boutique is that even when the boutique is closed, visitors can still enjoy a storytelling experience. By scanning a symbol of the Manufacture on the exterior window of the Ginza boutique, this will launch an immersive 360-degree video experience. This video will take the visitors on a journey to the Zenith Manufacture which shows historical figures, such as founder Georges-Favre Jacot and the saviour of the El Primero movement, Charles Vermont.
The Zenith Chronomaster Revival Lupin The Third Second-Edition, was built and released on the success of the first “Lupin The Third” watch, released back in 2019. A watch that was almost 50 years in the making, the Chornomaster A384 “Lupin The Third” is the first timepiece to be inspired and created from a Japanese anime series. Zenith created the Lupin The Third timepiece as a dedication to the show where Zenith’s timepieces have made appearances.
This watch will be limited to 200 pieces as it is a special series. The timepiece features original 1969 A387 stainless steel case with 37mm diameter. A “panda dial” style design has been used for the dial as it features a white dial with contrasting black counters. The tri-counter layout is made up of a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock and constant seconds counter at 9 o’clock.
The hour markers are rhodium-plated with the hands being black rhodium plated. As per original designs, a beige Super-LumiNova has been used for both the hour indexes and hands. The Zenith Chronomaster Revival Lupin The Third Second-Edition comes with the steel ladder bracelet as it’s depicted in the anime series.
The movement used in this timepiece is Zenith’s El Primero 400 Automatic movement. Running at a frequency of 36,000 VpH (5 Hz) the El Primero 400 movement can produce up to 50 hours of power reserve. On the case back of this timepiece, Zenith has engraved a drawing of Daisuke Jigen, the partner of the title character in Lupin The Third. The Zenith Chronomaster Revival Lupin The Third Second-Edition is exclusively available first at the Ginza boutique, before being available at other Zenith boutiques and e-shop.
The third unveiling by Zenith is the “Zenith Icons”. The Zenith Icons concept offers buyers the chance to acquire a curated selection of some of the most sought after and iconic vintage Zenith timepieces.
Sold exclusively at Zenith Boutiques, these historical pieces will be sourced, restored and certified by the Zenith Manufacture. Iconic chronographs can be found, with the details of each watches provenance extensively researched and documented by Zenith’s Heritage department.
The Zenith Manufacture’s archive spanned the brand’s entire production since the company’s inception back in 1865. Having a vast inventory of spare parts, Zenith is able to restore these vintage timepieces in the same place they were first created, using the same original historically correct parts. Not a lot of watch manufactures out there today can make this claim!