A perfect fit to his Miami outfit (including an impressive mullet) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Below, you see the exact same version of his Audemars Piguet Royal Oak All Stainless Steel AP006 Watches , on a leather strap.This watch, with the highly sought-after Zenith El Primero movement is one of these watches you will rarely see in the flesh. While Ebel is also (or mostly?) popular by the non watch collectors for being ‘a good’ watch for a reasonable price, I guess that people who bought this watch back in the day probably didn’t even know about the superb chronograph movement ticking inside. You can snap these watches for approximately 1500 euro from eBay or Chrono24. Below you’ll see a close-up picture of the column wheel chronograph movement, Ebel caliber 134.Fast forward to 2006, 20 years after the first 1911, Ebel introduces a new line-up of 1911 sports Audemars Piguet Royal Oak All Stainless Steel AP006 Watches by the name of 1911 BTR. The automatic chronograph caliber 134 had already been replaced by their own in-house caliber 137.
When I just started out liking and looking at (serious) mechanical Audemars Piguet Royal Oak All Stainless Steel AP006 Watches , Ebel was one of the brands that I really liked. Especially their chronograph with Zenith El Primero movement was particularly interesting, easy to recognize as these models have a snap-on case back. Over the years, the movements changed (from Zenith to Ebel’s in-house caliber 137) but the characteristic case shape with the 5 screws and nice satin finish stayed. Although I wouldn’t mind having the Ebel chronograph with El Primero movement (Ebel caliber 134 based on Zenith’s caliber 400) – actually the same one as Don Johnson was wearing in Miami Vice – the new 1911 BTR Chronograph models are more up-to-date and just as interesting. More about the current Ebel 1911 Chronograph later on in this article. Let’s talk some history first.As you can see in the picture above, Don Johnson is wearing the Ebel chronograph in stainless steel/gold combination.
