Zenith & Aaron Rodgers Reveal New Green Chronomaster Sport Chronograph

Last year, Zenith announced a partnership with football player Aaron Rodgers at an event in Green Bay, WI, home of the Packers. That season would be Rodgers’ 18th and final year with the team. Zenith would stick by Rodgers through his move to the New York Jets (coincidentally, the team we saw the Packers lose to during the announcement event, which you can read about right here) and a subsequent week 1 injury that would sideline the decorated QB for much of the season (just how long remains to be seen). We had the opportunity to once again speak with Rodgers and Zenith CEO Julien Tornare this week in New York to see the first horological collaboration between the two: a green on green Chronomaster Sport. 

The watch uses the hugely popular 41mm Chronomaster Sport platform that we’ve seen rendered in a variety of materials and colorways, though it’s presented here in a manner we’ve never quite seen before. The ceramic bezel is a deep green with the dial following suit, creating a uniform appearance that places gray toned sub dials at the center, changing the relationship between the two. Historically, the trio of overlapping, and oftentimes tri-color sub dials serve as the focal point of the design, and are instantly recognizable as a Zenith hallmark. Here, the sub dials each get a slightly different gray tone, but very much take a back seat to the color surrounding them.

The green isn’t the only thing immediately different about this limited edition, however. The biggest departure may just be the treatment of the hour markers. Rather than the bar markers seen on the Chronomaster Sport’s dial up to this point, this example uses applied Arabic numerals arranged radially rather than horizontally. This will likely be the most polarizing detail of the design, though they do more to set the watch apart from other LEs we’ve seen in this collection. Other small details include yellow accents on the timing hands of the watch. Given that this watch has been in the works for 15 months, a time in which Rodgers made a transition from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets, during our interview Rodger’s commented that “there’s definitely an ode to my time in Green Bay” here in the final representation. 

Julien Tornare clued us in to just how involved Rodgers was in the design process, providing feedback throughout. Seeing the two interact it’s clear that there’s an authentic fondness and respect between the player and the brand that raises above the typical brand/paid sponsor relationship (a typically uninteresting affair). I made a similar observation about the two last year in Green Bay, and how pairing feels born of mutual respect and curiosity on the part of Rodgers, who is most certainly motivated by interesting people and projects rather than by a few extra bucks in his pocket at this stage of his career.

When asked about his choice of watch for this project, Aaron commented on his love of the Chronomaster Sport, and it’s a watch he seems to come back to often. He’s frequently spotted with the white dial on his wrist, and it felt like the obvious starting point for this project. The unique end result doesn’t feel like it’s recalling any specific era or historic design language – this is a modern expression guided by the relationship between the two parties. It won’t be a watch for all tastes, and that’s a good thing these days. What it does have is personality, and while I’m not sure it says anything deeper about Zenith’s visual approach to their chronographs, it encapsulates the levity enjoyed by Julien and Aaron perfectly. 

Zenith will produce 250 examples of this Chronomaster Sport Aaron Rodgers, and each box will get Rodgers’ signature (not a stamp, his actual signature). The watch will go on sale November 2nd, and will be priced at $12,800. Learn more from Zenith.