Zenith (watchmaker)

{{Short description|Swiss luxury watchmaker}} {{More citations needed|date=August 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2018}} {{use British English|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox company | name = Zenith | logo = Zenith logo.svg | logo_size = | type = Wholly owned subsidiary | founder = Georges Favre-Jacot | area_served = Worldwide | key_people = Benoit de Clerck (current CEO)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-08 |title=Appointments at LVMH Watches & Jewelry Division |url=https://www.lvmh.com/news-documents/press-releases/appointments-at-lvmh-watches-jewelry-division/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=LVMH |language=en}}</ref> | industry = Luxury watches | products = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | assets = | equity = | num_employees = | parent = LVMH | foundation = Le Locle, Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 1865 | location_city = Le Locle | location_country = Switzerland | market cap = | slogan = | homepage = {{URL|www.zenith-watches.com}} }}

'''Zenith SA''' is a French owned Swiss luxury watch manufacturing subsidiary of LVMH. The company was started in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel<ref name="Zenith's History">{{cite web |url=http://www.zenith-watches.com/en_en/icones/georges-favre-jacot |title=Georges Favre-Jacot |publisher=Zenith International |access-date=18 April 2026|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608003935/http://www.zenith-watches.com/en_en/icones/georges-favre-jacot|archive-date=2019-06-08}}</ref> and is one of the oldest continuously operating watchmakers. Favre-Jacot invented the concept of "in house movements",{{attribution needed|date=April 2026}} believing that only through control of the entire watchmaking process could the highest quality be achieved. Zenith was purchased by LVMH in November 1999, becoming one of several brands in its watch and jewelry division, which includes TAG Heuer and Hublot. Benoit de Clerck is the company's current president and CEO.

==History== thumb|Georges Favre-Jacot In 1865, Georges Favre-Jacot (1843 – 1917) began manufacturing watches in Le Locle, Switzerland.<ref name="Zenith's History" /> After witnessing the success of American watch companies that exhibited at the Centennial Exposition in 1876, he opened a watchmaking factory.<ref name="NYT2018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/fashion/watches-la-chaux-de-fonds-switzerland.html|title = A Swiss Town Designed for the Glory of Time|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 14 November 2018|last1 = Beckett|first1 = Kathleen|url-access=subscription|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181114100650/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/14/fashion/watches-la-chaux-de-fonds-switzerland.html|archive-date=14 November 2018}}</ref> At the 1900 Paris World's Fair, Georges Favre-Jacot & Co. was awarded the Grand Prix for their "Zenith" movement, so named because Favre-Jacot believed it represented the best of precision timekeeping.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} In 1911, the company was renamed to Fabrique des Montres Zenith S.A. after the prized movement.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

To further support vertical integration of watch manufacturing, Zenith purchased movement maker Martel in 1959.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} Through the acquisition, and at the direction of Zenith leadership, the company began work on an automatic chronograph movement that was to commemorate the watchmaker's 100th anniversary.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} In 1969, four years after the original target date, they announce their achievement with the El Primero movement.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Due to ongoing naming disputes with Zenith Electronics, the company was unable to achieve a sizable market share in the United States. In 1968, Zenith merged with Movado (and later Mondia as Movado-Zenith-Mondia) to sell in the United States under the already established Movado brand.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} With the popularity of quartz watches increasing, Zenith Radio Company decided to enter the market in 1972 through acquisition of Zenith, joining the two companies of the same name.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} It was during this ownership that production of mechanical movements was halted and the production shifted to quartz movements, a move meant to save the company, but ultimately led to it being put up for sale in 1978.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Dixi, who already had purchased many struggling Swiss watchmakers, purchased Movado-Zenith-Mondia from Zenith Radio Company in 1978 under the leadership of Paul Castella.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://grail-watch.com/2021/03/03/the-fall-and-rise-of-zenith-1969-1988/|website=Grail Watch|first=Stephen|last=Foskett|title=The Fall and Rise of Zenith, 1969-1988|date=2021-03-03}}</ref> While other brands slowly shuttered production due to the quartz crisis, Zenith was continuing to produce wristwatches as it struggled to survive. As automatic movements began to come back into demand, Ebel (and later Rolex) sourced the El Primero movement for their own chronograph timepieces, which breathed new life into the struggling brand.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} In 1999, as watch consortiums (led by Swatch Group) began to acquire brands, LVMH purchased Zenith for $48.4 million USD,<ref>{{Cite web |author=W. W. D. Staff |date=1999-11-16 |title=LVMH'S ACQUISITION OF ZENITH EXPANDS WATCH, JEWELRY GROUP |url=https://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-features/article-1076880/ |access-date=2022-08-09 |website=WWD |language=en-US}}</ref> which continues to be a part of the luxury goods conglomerate today.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

=== Georges Favre-Jacot === Georges Favre-Bulls was born in 1843. At the age of nine he stopped attending school to pursue an apprenticeship in watchmaking, and by the age of 13, he had already established his own business. He married Louise-Philippine Jacot-Descombes at the age of 20, and was known from that point on as Georges Favre-Jacot. He died in 1917 at the age of 74.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

At some time, Favre-Jacot requested that a house be built for himself at Le Locle, by the architect Le Corbusier.<ref>{{cite book |last=Flint |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hUjCBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |title=Modern Man: The Life of Le Corbusier, Architect of Tomorrow |date=26 October 2018 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |isbn=9780544262225 |access-date=26 October 2018 |via=Google Books}}</ref> He was also closely involved with another prominent architect, named Alphonse Laverrière. His relationship with this latter architect was the source of influence upon the Werkbund movement. The two men collaborated with a shared artistic vision of the nature of production, to the extent to which they themselves somewhat reformed the artistic situation within francophone Switzerland at the time.<ref name="Zenith's History" /><ref name="invaluable" />

== Chronometry == At the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition, Zenith won its first award for chronometry and in honor of that award, the manufacturer released the Grand Prix Paris 1900 pocket watch featuring a depiction of the prize on the case.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} In the 1920s, Zenith developed the Calibre 26x series of chronometers based on an 8-day car clock, which were used for both marine and observatory competitions.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} In the 1940s, Zenith continued their efforts to develop precision movements, and, from 1950 to 1954, the manufacturer won five Neuchatel Observatory prizes with their Caliber 135.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} In total, Zenith has won over 2,300 prizes for chronometry.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Today, while very few Zenith timepieces feature COSC certification (required to display the word "Chronometer" on the dial), the wristwatches meet or exceed these rigorous timekeeping standards, reflecting Zenith's history of innovative precision timekeeping.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

== Collections == Currently, Zenith has the following collections:<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zenith-watches.com/int/products/watches|title=DISCOVER THE ZENITH UNIVERSE|website=Zenith Watches|language=en|access-date=3 May 2026|archive-date=|archive-url=|url-status=}}</ref>

* Defy ("the future of tradition") * Chronomaster ("an icon worn on the wrist") * G.F.J. (named after the company's founder Georges Favre-Jacot<ref>{{Cite web |last=epp |date=2025-11-14 |title=THE G.F.J. WINS THE CHRONOMETRY PRIZE AT THE GRAND PRIX D'HORLOGERIE DE GENÈVE 2025 |url=https://pressroom.zenith-watches.com/the-g-f-j-wins-the-chronometry-prize-at-the-grand-prix-dhorlogerie-de-geneve-2025 |access-date=2026-05-04 |website=ZENITH Watches |language=en-US}}</ref>) * Elite ("timeless elegance by Zenith") * Pilot ("heading for far horizons")

Previous collections include: * Academy * Captain * Class * Clipper * Cosmopolitan * De Luca (1988-1996) - Automatic chronograph * Epervier * Espada * Port Royal * Rainbow (1992-1999) - Automatic chronograph. Named for a William Starling Burgess Design J Class sailboat that won the 1934 America's Cup. * Respirator * Silhouette * Sporto * Star * Stellina * Surf

== Movements == ===El Primero=== The El Primero calibre, when it was first unveiled on January 10, 1969, was the first high frequency automatic chronograph movement,<ref name="vermot">{{cite web | url=https://www.zenith-watches.com/int/brand/heritage-charles-vermot | title=Charles Vermot - el Primero's Guardian - Zenith }}</ref><ref name="hodinkee">{{cite web | url=https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/charles-vermot-the-man-who-saved-the-el-primero-and-possibly-zenith | title=Historical Perspectives: The Story of Charles Vermot, the Man Who Saved the el Primero (And Possibly Zenith) }}</ref> and certainly the one to put Zenith Watches on the map. One of the original watchmakers who worked on the movement, Charles Vermot, saved the calibre when the owners of the brand decided to abandon the idea of a mechanical chronograph and focus on Quartz timepieces in 1975.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zenith-watches.com/en_en/icones/el-primero|title=CHRONOMASTER - Iconic & Timeless Watches - Zenith|access-date=18 November 2018|archive-date=25 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425074637/https://www.zenith-watches.com/en_en/icones/el-primero|url-status=dead}}</ref> While all the tools used to manufacture the calibre were being dumped or sold, Vermot gathered all the necessary technical plans and tools and hid them in a walled-off attic at the Zenith manufacture to protect the El Primero for future generations. The movement came back.<ref name="vermot" /><ref name="hodinkee" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://monochrome-watches.com/the-zenith-el-primero-revisiting-one-of-the-most-iconic-movements-ever/|title=The Zenith el Primero – Revisiting One of the Most Iconic Movements Ever|date=6 July 2018}}</ref>

The movement was one of the first automatic chronograph movements and has a frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour (5 Hz). Zenith's El Primero movement was used by Rolex from 1988 to 2000 for the Rolex Daytona chronograph. El Primero movement's high rate allows a resolution of {{frac|1|10}} of a second and a potential for greater positional accuracy over the more common standard frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.timezone.com/library/archives/archives0050|title=The Stainless-Steel Zenith El Primero Chronomaster|publisher=timezone.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120620161831/http://people.timezone.com/library/archives/archives0050|archive-date=20 June 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=16 April 2009}}</ref> The El Primero was honoured with a 2012 release of the El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th, limited to 1,969 pieces, referring to the original 1969 release date, that housed the same 36,000 vph movement and a sub-dial measuring in tenths of a second to make a complete rotation every ten seconds.<ref name="invaluable">{{cite web|url=https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/zenith-classique-elite-heritage-ultra-thin-romain-106-c-1594eba87d|title=Lot 106: ZENITH (CLASSIQUE ELITE HERITAGE – ULTRA THIN / ROMAINE RÉF. 03.2010.681/11.C493), vers 2013|website=Invaluable|date=28 May 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.timepiecechronicle.com/features/2017/10/3/thehistoryofthezenithelprimero |title=A History of the El Primero Movement — Timepiece Chronicle |website=www.timepiecechronicle.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419051443/https://www.timepiecechronicle.com/features/2017/10/3/thehistoryofthezenithelprimero |archive-date=19 April 2019}}</ref>

=== Elite === In 1991, Zenith began development of a modular, slim, adaptable, and multipurpose in-house movement that could be housed within a wide variety of timepieces across their various collections. Led by technical director Jean-Pierre Gerber, and aided by the manufacturer's first utilization of CAD, they developed an ultra-thin movement that ranged from 2.83mm to 6.20mm of thickness, depending on the inclusion of complications. Operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), and featuring an annual Glucydur balance wheel, a self-compensating balance spring, and an automatic winding system with a large diameter tungsten carbide rotor mounted on ball bearings, the movement was designed for precision timekeeping that required minimal maintenance.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} When introduced at Baselworld in 1994, it was awarded the title of "Best Movement of the Year".<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg/watch-jewellery/the-best-of-baselworld|title=The Best of Baselworld|magazine=The Peak|first=Lynette|last=Koh|date=14 April 2015|access-date=15 April 2026}}</ref>

Under Jean-Frédéric Dufour tenure as CEO, the company decided to replace the Elite movement in their entry-level wristwatches with a more economical Sellita movement, and further develop a double-barrel version of the Elite for higher-end models. Upon Dufour's departure to Rolex in 2014, incoming CEO Aldo Magada reversed this decision, and the Elite is still being built by the company today.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The first wristwatches to include the movement were released in a similarly named Elite collection, which remain a feature of the present-day collection. Additionally, the movement has been a feature of the Defy collection.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

== Gallery == <gallery> File:Zenith El Primero.jpg| Chronograph El Primero, first version 1970 File:Zenith img 0988.jpg | Zenith El Primero File:Zenit img 0985.jpg | Zenith El Primero File:Zenith img 0987.jpg | Zenith El Primero File:Zenith El Primero 36000.jpg| Zenith El Primero File:El Primero De Luca Ref - 02.2310.400.jpg | El Primero De Luca, <br /> Ref #02.2310.400 File:CameraZOOM-20101010135432.jpg | Zenith pocket watch c. 1900–1910 (original mechanism, but no original casing) File:Zenith pocket watch inside.jpg | Inside of Zenith pocket watch c. 1900–1910 (original mechanism, but no original casing) Image:MIH-film126.jpg|Zenith Grande Chronomaster XXT, Quantième perpétuel </gallery>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{Official website|http://www.zenith-watches.com}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenith (Watchmaker)}} Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1865 Category:LVMH brands Category:Swiss watch brands Category:Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland Category:Le Locle Category:Luxury brands Category:Companies based in the canton of Neuchâtel Category:Swiss companies established in 1865 Category:1999 mergers and acquisitions

Zenith (watchmaker)

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