The Cairelli Zenith chronograph is one of the most sublime and aesthetically pleasing tool watches of the mid-20th century. The oversized case at 43mm diameter makes it today a very wearable timepiece, highly in tune with modern aesthetic canons, while at the time indisputably classified it as a tool watch, little suited for daily wear.

Being a military watch, the main requisites were accuracy, reliability and readability, this latter achieved thanks to the large, black, luminous dial design. Roman retailer Cairelli had been supplying watches to the Italian Armed Forces since the 1950s, using Universal timepieces with Martel Watch Company movements. Martell was however acquired by Zenith in 1959 and, in order to keep consistency, the Italian Army switched to Zenith. Initially, the watches were intended for both the Italian Air Force and marked “AMI” or the Navy and marked “MM”. Ultimately the contract was cancelled and watches not sold to the military were then retailed to civilian customers (these watches do not bear military marking). It is believed that 2500 examples of the CP-2 (Cronometro da polso - wrist chronometer) were manufactured.