The movement is an updated version of the famous 1969 El Primero calibre, an automatic column-wheel chronograph with a high frequency of 36,000vph/5Hz and a 50-hour power reserve. The date indication at 4:30 is highlighted with a black background, identical to the one on Daisuke Jigen’s fictional watch. The applied and faceted indices are gold-plated in the black section and rhodium-plated in the white area, all coated with beige Super-LumiNova. Following the two distinct colour schemes, the tachymetre scale is split into grey and white section. The small seconds counter at 9 o’clock belongs to the darker half of the dial and is grey with a gold-plated hand, while the chronograph counters – 30-min at 3 and 12-hour at 6 o’clock – belong to the creamy-white portion of the dial and are black with white hands.

Creating a dial with such radical contrasts was a challenge. The dial is cut diametrically (from 2 to 7 o’clock) and features the black and grey colour scheme of the first Chronomaster Revival Lupin the Third watch in the upper segment and the white and black colour scheme of the second watch in the lower one.

Now in its third reincarnation, the latest Lupin the Third marks the final edition of this novel series – limited to 250 pieces – and features a striking four-tone panda dial and a titanium case. Created by Monkey Punch (Kazuhiko Katō) in the late 1960s, Daisuke Jigen is dressed in tight-fitting suits with bellbottoms and the latest accessories in this case, a watch that is unmistakably modelled after the Zenith El Primero chronograph, the first high-frequency chronograph produced in 1969. Instead, it is inspired by a chronograph worn by Daisuke Jigen, Lupin’s sidekick and expert marksman. However, unlike the models covered in Xavier’s article, the watch does not feature any of the characters from Lupin the Third on the dial. Three years ago, Zenith launched an unprecedented version of its Chronomaster A384 inspired by the Japanese manga and anime series Lupin the Third.

Emblazoned with characters from pop culture, you can enjoy anything from Snoopy dressed as an astronaut to a 3D Black Panther from Marvel animating your dial. As Xavier reported a week ago, cartoon and comic character watches are all the rage in high-end watchmaking.

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