The history of Zenith, like other major watch brands, is marked by the opening of a small family business. Its beginnings date back to 1865 when a young and visionary Georges Emile Favre Bulle founded Le Fabrique des Billodes in Le Locle, Neuchâtel (Switzerland), where he began to manufacture pocket watches. Success came quickly and in 1896 the company was renamed Georges Faver-Jacot et Cie. in honor of his wife Louise Jacot-Descombes. Favre Jacot will be the first to create the concept ofwatch manufacturing–a company that produces all its mechanisms-, by bringing together all the artisans under one roof, improving quality control, cutting design and manufacturing times. In this way, one of the first true Swiss manufacturers was born with all the necessary knowledge to generate key milestones in thehistory of watchmaking.
Since the end of the 19th century, Billodes specimens began to be marketed outside of Europe. Most were pocket watches and were characterized by the mechanism of the same name. By then the company produced four lines of watches: Georges Favre-Jacot, Billodes, Defi and Diogenese. In 1897 it introduced a fifth line, Zenith, which would be its most elaborate mechanical movement famous for its reliability and precision. Zenith will become the company's main line. At the beginning of the 20th century, the production range expanded and shipboard chronometers, table clocks, precision pendulum clocks and, later, marine chronometers were added to the brand's catalogue. In 1911 the company acquired its final name: Zenith, in reference to its last line and also to the zenith or highest point in the sky. A five-pointed star is chosen as a symbol of corporate identity.
The company's development continues and its watches begin to be marketed in the US, Latin America, Russia, India, China and Japan. In 1920, Zenith had already produced two million watches and began to open distribution offices in the main world cities: Moscow, Paris, Vienna, London, Geneva and New York. DuringLes années follesDuring the interwar period, when optimism reigned in Europe, there was a growing demand for wristwatches that in the blink of an eye replaced the previous pocket models. Zenith would respond perfectly to this trend by also incorporating alarm and stopwatch functions in its new creations. The 1930s and the advances achieved in civil aviation required greater precision from the watch industry. Zenith becomes a benchmark in the creation of quality mechanical mechanisms and diversifies its production. By then Zenith had already made history and its onboard counters were found on the seaplanes and ships of the naval fleets of several countries.
During the 1940s and those that followed World War II, Zenith returned to the essentials and, strengthened by its experience and maturity, decided to delve into the best of itself. At this time he was key in the development of the central seconds hand. Zenith was the first watch brand to present a model that carried it, the Zenith Caliber 133. Faithful to its innovative spirit and its faith in progress, the history of Zenith does not stop there. The next stage will be marked by the search for the perfect mechanism.
The 60's mark a before and after in thehistory of the Zenith watch brand. In 1969, it launched the first automatic winding chronographic movement called El Primero, one of the most celebrated and recognized mechanisms in the world.history of watchmaking. This is the first mechanism to have a frequency of 10 vibrations per second, or 36,000 vibrations per hour (5Hz). Most automatic chronographs have a frequency of 8 vibrations per second, which makes El Primero the most accurate in the world with a precision of 1/10 of a second. The First becomes the standard bearer of all mechanical watch movements. At the end of that decade quartz also made its appearance. The Zenith Manufacture embarks on this adventure and takes on the challenge, although it preserves part of its tooling while awaiting the return of the mechanical mechanisms. The preservation of all this knowledge takes place thanks to Charles Vermont. Among the novelties of that time, the first automatic watch, the Espada, stands out, which included a complete calendar and the phases of the moon. In the 80s, when mechanical mechanisms once again had the wind in their favor, Zenith had all the necessary means to give new life to the El Primero, a symbol of the brand's creative genius. Encouraged by the dynamism that its manufacturing quality gives it, Zenith creates new movements such as the extra-thin Elite in 1994, the first Zenith caliber manufactured with computer-assisted technology and which became the movement of the year by the specialized press of the time.
In 1999the manufacturing company Zenith joins LVMH(Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy SA), the world's largest luxury goods group where it has positioned itself as atop class luxury watch brand. Backed by its notablesavoir-faire, Zenith has continued to innovate and launch new mechanisms and models such as the Open series, successor to the Chronomaster models. Featuring a new dial design, it is the first Zenith brand watch to provide a front view of the mechanism. Features also continue to be added to new models such as the tourbillon or the minute repeater. The nods to the company's emblematic mechanism, El Primero, continue to be a guideline for the brand. Since its creation, more than 180 versions have been made in 500 different variations. In fact, El Primero along with Academy, Pilot, Captain and Star make up the brand's current collections. One of the latest creations has been the Limited Edition Striking 10th, one of the latest variations of the El Primero caliber tested in extreme conditions such as the free fall from the stratosphere carried out by the Austrian Felix Baumgartner in 2012.
Curiosities
- The creation of a Zenith watch from the El Primero collection takes an average of nine months at its headquarters in Switzerland. During this time, more than 2,500 operations are carried out involving 150 people.
- Mahatma Ghandi, father of Indian independence, wore a Zenith pocket watch that sold for $2 million at an auction in New York in 2009.
- Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, who was the first person to reach the South and North Poles in the early 20th century, wears Zenith watches on his expeditions.
- The history of Zenith is linked to that of aviation since 1909 when Louis Blériot crossed the English Channel with a Zenith watch. Years later, in 1970, a watch with the El Primero caliber was strapped to the landing gear of a Boeing 707 and, despite fluctuations in temperature and pressure, maintained its regular frequency without requiring any adjustment.
- Many royal figures wear Zenith watches, such as Albert I, Prince of Monaco.
- It has more than 1,500 precision awards within the watch industry, making it the Swiss brand most awarded for its precision by chronometry observatories and with more than 300 patents.
- Among its ambassadors are adventurers such as Johan Ernst Nilson, elite athletes such as Alexandre Caizergues and NBA player Russell Westbrook.
- Zenith has been designated as the official timing brand for competitions such as the 52 Super Series monohull regatta and Spindrift, the world's largest trimaran race.
- The First accompanied Felix Baumgartner in his free fall from the stratosphere in 2012.
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