Before Rainbow Daytonas, Datejusts, and Royal Oaks there was a different kind of rainbow in watches. Actually, its a rainbow watch within a rainbow watch. Under the first layer is the Zenith Rainbow El Primero, a line of sport chronographs launched in 1992. The second is a reference to the Rainbow Flyback ref. 02.0480.405 released in 1997.
The History
The Rainbow line of watches were named after Rainbow, a 1930 American J Class single masted racing yacht. This yacht was famous for winning the 1934 America’s Cup, sailing race series dating back to 1851. Also known as the Auld Mug, the America’s Cup is an actual pitcher, more specifically an ewer, and also the oldest international sporting trophy.
The 1934 race was significant because the New York Yacht Club, who had been holding the Cup since 1870, was challenged by the British Royal Yacht Squadron. Their yacht, Endeavor, was unanimously agreed to be the faster and better designed yacht in the Cup and actually took the first two races of the series. But due to failed tactics and inexperience of the Endeavor crew, Rainbow took the next four races and won the series, making an underdog comeback.
The Rainbow Flyback is so named because of the striking coloring of this specific reference. The bezel features red hash marks and numerals from 1 to 20 minutes. Under the sapphire crystal, the fluorescent red chronograph second and minute hand immediately catch the eye. Most of the hands on pieces available today have aged to a pleasing pale orange. The real pop of color comes from the chronograph minutes subdial where green, yellow and blue mark minutes zero to five, ten to fifteen, and twenty to twenty-five, respectively.
This stainless steel chronograph developed in the mid-1990s and featured 100 meter water resistance, a telemeter scale rehaut, and the El Primero caliber 405 flyback movement, running at 36,000 beats per hour.
The French Connection
This reference was the result of a prototype made in response to a bid from the French Ministère de la Défense. The French were looking for a watch for their Air Force fighter pilots. The watch was to be a chronograph able to withstand extreme acceleration forces from nine to eleven G’s, wide variations in pressure, magnetic fields, and temperature, and a dial that was extremely easy to read.
The watch was an atypical Rainbow in other ways as well. The chronograph pushers did not screw down as they needed to be easily accessible and the bezel was bidirectional since pilots wouldn’t be diving with it. Also, where the case back usually had a picture of the Rainbow yacht, these versions had a Zenith shield. Note that early examples utilize tritium lume and later pieces, as well as service dials, use Super-LumiNova.
Unfortunately, the French underwent significant budget cuts before the watch could be adopted. A loss for the French Air Force but a win for civilians as the watch was released to the public in 1997. The watch was available on a bracelet with butterfly clasp or leather with red contrast stitching. The watch was also available in a toned down black and white version, ref. 02.0470.405. As for production, only 900 pieces were made on leather band, 4,850 on the steel bracelet, and 4,100 of the black and white version.
The Details
| Reference | 01.0480.405 / 02.0480.405 / 02.0470.405 |
| Movement | Caliber 405 |
| Diameter | 40mm |
| Lug to Lug | 46mm |
| Height | 12mm |
| Lug Width | 20mm |
| Crystal | Sapphire |
| Lume | Tritium / Super-LumiNova |
| Water Resistance | 100m |
| MSRP | 700 CHF |
In 2014 Zenith re-imagined this reference in its Stratos series in a larger 45mm case with some modern upgrades. In 2019 Zenith celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the release of the original El Primero. There are many outstanding references of the El Primero since its release in 1969. The Rainbow Flyback El Primero is one of them and seems underappreciated along with others in the El Primero series, especially relative to contemporaries like the Heuer Carrera, Omega Speedmaster, and certainly the Rolex Daytona. With such a deep and layered history, this watch delivers value in today’s market.
