Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner earned his place in the history books on Sunday (Oct. 14, 2012).Wearing the all-new El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th chronograph, Zenith Ambassador Felix Baumgartner smashed four world records: the highest manned balloon flight (128,100 feet / 39,045 kilometres), the highest freefall, the longest freefall time and, for the first time in history, breaking the sound barrier with the human body. Strapped to his wrist, outside of his spacesuit, Zenith Stratos Flyback Striking 10th becomes the first watch to break the speed of sound in a near space environment.

“It was an incredible up and down today, just like it’s been with the whole project,” a relieved Baumgartner said. “First we got off with a beautiful launch and then we had a bit of drama with a power supply issue to my visor. The exit was perfect but then I started spinning slowly. I thought I’d just spin a few times and that would be that, but then I started to speed up. It was really brutal at times. I thought for a few seconds that I’d lose consciousness. I didn’t feel a sonic boom because I was so busy just trying to stabilize myself. We’ll have to wait and see if we really broke the sound barrier. It was really a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.”

Commenting on his exploits, Zenith President & CEO, Jean-Frédéric Dufour said: “The Manufacture Zenith is very proud to have been the official timekeeper of this mission and to present the El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th Tribute to Felix Baumgartner. Thanks to him, Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th becomes* the first watch ever to cross the sound barrier in a near space environment.”The Stratos is equipped with the world’s most accurate automatic chronograph movement the legendary El Primero as well as the Striking 10th and Flyback functions, making it an eminently suitable partner for Felix Baumgartner’s exploit. “This project is all about uniqueness, manpower and precision and my Zenith watch perfectly matches the mission.” said Felix Baumgarnter after the jump.

Technical data:

Movement
El Primero 4057B, Automatic
Caliber 13 1/4 “` (Diameter: 30 mm)
Depth 6.60 mm
Parts 326
Jewels 31
Frequency 36,000 V/h – (5 Hz)
Power reserve over 50 hours
Finish oscillating weight with “Côtes de Genève” pattern

Case, Dial & Hands
Material stainless steel
Diameter 45.5 mm
Crystal sapphire glass with antireflection treatment on both sides
Case back transparent sapphire glass
Water-resistance 10 atm / 100 meters
Dial silver sunray with 3 colored counters
Indexes & numerals rhodium-plated faceted with Superluminova SLN C1
Hands rhodium-plated faceted with Superluminova SLN C1

Functions
Hours and minutes in the center
Small seconds at 9 o’clock
Date indicator at 6 o’clock
1/10th of a second chronograph
60-minute counter at 6 o’clock
60-second counter at 3 o’clock
1/10th of a second indicated by the chronograph hand
Strap & Buckle
Black alligator-leather strap with stainless steel triple folding buckle
Metal bracelet with stainless steel triple folding buckle

[ Zenith / Timezone ]