HISTORY

To cultivate beauty and total precision, with audacity.For almost one and a half centuries ZENITH has sculpted time, seeking the ultimate perfection.

In 1865, under the guidance of Georges Favre-Jacot, one of the most mythical manufacturers of quality watches was born. A 22-year old visionary, he was the first to create the very concept of a watchmaking Manufacture. He brought all artisan watchmakers together under one roof, providing them with heat and light, allowing them thus to dedicate themselves entirely to the design of their timepieces. From the hand of the watchmaker, “manus” in Latin, came the etymology of the word “Manufacture”.

One evening, Georges Favre-Jacot perfected a movement which he considered almost perfection. He went out into the silver night and lifted his eyes towards the heavenly sky. And the cosmos spoke to him. He saw a gigantic constellation turning around the Pole star, similar in its complexity to the movements of the pivots and the wheels on their axes. He decided then to call his new movement, and its Manufacture, after the word that designates the highest point in the universe, ZENITH. He adopted the star as a symbol, a shining good luck charm, a celestial guide towards a promising destiny.

From then on, protected by this radiance, the Manufacture with its 2000 golden hands, traversed the 20th century with style. 1565 awards, over 50 mythical calibres, branches throughout the world, from New York to Paris, from Moscow to Tokyo. History is in the making, led by exceptional men and women, who conscious of the treasure they hold in their hands, develop it with love, while keeping true to the founding values: beauty, truth, integrity, precision, and mastery over complexity. Furthermore, not content to simply perpetuate tradition, they reinvent it.

Today, the Manufacture continues to meet its challenge: to combine beauty and mechanical perfection, subtly uniting tradition with modernity. In the heavens, the ZENITH star continues to shine, as if Georges Favre-Jacot, from a panoramic vantage point, continues to look after his heritage, observing the work of his successors.

1865:ZENITH is born in the Swiss Jura thanks to the initiative of Georges Favre-Jacot, one of the most mythical names amongst high quality watchmakers. A 22 year old visionary, he is the first to create the real concept of a watchmaking manufacture.

1875:Success comes rapidly. In 1875, the company already has over one thousand employees. It creates pocket watches, pendulum clocks and counter instruments for the navy.

1896:Georges Favre-Jacot is awarded a gold medal at the Swiss National Exhibition in Geneva. Four years later, honours at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. These prizes and awards, acknowledging the quality and the precision of his timepieces, continued to increase over the years. The company with its thousand talented workforce sails through the 20th century in glory: 1565 awards and over 50 mythical movements.

1911:In 1911,Georges Favre-Jacot decides to give the company, which still bore his name, a lasting identity. He names it “Manufacture ZENITH”. According to the legend, as he was walking one night under a starry sky in the Swiss mountains the idea came to him to give to his best movement, and later also to the company, the name of the highest point in the sky. A star hence became the symbol of the company, evidencing the special importance that Georges Favre-Jacot saw between mechanical time and cosmic time.

1920:In 1920,the company has already produced two million timepieces. The desire to communicate this passion further afield sparks the idea of opening branches in Geneva, Moscow, Paris, Vienna, London and New York... Carried by the thrust of this magnificent effort, ZENITH starts its international history. This is ongoing: today, ZENITH has 17 subsidiaries and its business is equally shared between America, Europe and Asia.

1930:During the 30s, also because of the progress achieved in fields such as civil aviation, the watchmaking industry is required to offer greater precision. A benchmark in the production of high quality mechanical movements, ZENITH Manufacture diversifies its production and its marine pieces were to be found on seaplanes of the French navy, on board Royal Navy vessels, as well as the Italian and British navy.

1940:During the 40s and the years that followed the war, ZENITH Manufacture goes back to basics and thanks to its experience and maturity, decides to concentrate on its core business. Faithful to its innovative spirit and its faith in progress, new automatic movements are developed, in a quest for the perfect movement.

1969:In 1969, throbbing at 36,000 vibrations per hour, the El Primero movement is born, the first integrated automatic chronograph, a triumph over the challenge to fit in the smallest possible space a maximum of technical functionality. Today it still is the fastest automatic chronograph and the most precise in the world.

The end of this decade also sees the arrival of quartz. ZENITH Manufacture takes up the challenge, whilst still preserving its precious tooling awaiting the return of mechanical movements that it considers inevitable. In doing so it does not lose its heart, or its soul.

1980:Whilst the beautiful mechanical watches are once again riding the wave, ZENITH Manufacture has all the necessary equipment to relaunch the El Primero movement. Having become famous, it is in great demand, also by other prestigious watchmakers.

1994:Animated by exuberant dynamism, it creates new watches, like the extra slim Elite movement. Thanks to its outstanding know-how in traditional watchmaking, ZENITH Manufacture enters the third millennium with confidence and an even greater desire for innovation and modernity.

1999:The LVMH Group (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy) acquires ZENITH Manufacture, a rare pearl that it wants to turn into a leading star of watchmaking in the 20th century.

2001:The rebirth: ZENITH searches the depths of its past hundred years to reinvent itself. Drawing inspiration from the legacy of its young and brilliant founder, ZENITH forges a unique style, classical and yet innovative, the link between tradition and modernity.

2002:During the Basel Watch Fair in 2002, ZENITH launches 4 new movements and 14 new models representing 52 new variations. History is on the move...

2003:Launch of the Chronomaster Open El Primero, a technological innovation enabling a view of the beating heart of the movement through an opening in the dial. This model rapidly becomes the icon of the ZENITH Manufacture and encounters a resounding success.

The company also decides to turn its attention to ladies and offer them a range in their image, beautiful and intelligent: the Star. Great enthusiasm ensues. Sales of this segment show continuous growth and today have reached a third of total production.

The production facilities are modernised with the new digital manufacturing technology. However, the watchmaker’s craft remains at the centre of it all and old manual or semi automatic skills are reinstated (angling and decorating craftsmen...).

2004:The first Tourbillon ZENITH: integrated to the El Primero chronograph, it is the fastest Tourbillon in the world. Thanks to this watchmaking masterpiece, the ZENITH star now shines high in the heavens of the most prestigious Watchmakers.

It obtains the “Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie” in Geneva, the prize for men’s watch. The Grande Chronomaster Open El Primero is awarded the “Best Watch of the Year 2004”.

2005:The first Haute Couture watch is launched: the Starissime, a tourbillon embellished with over 230 diamonds, designed for an exceptional woman.

ZENITH Manufacture also endows itself with one of the most complicated watches in the world, the Grande Class Traveller Répétition Minutes El Primero: a chronograph, an alarm clock, with a vibrating mode, a date display, dual time and, of course, a minute-repeater.

One hundred and forty years after its creation, ZENITH shines at the highest point: the zenith.

2006:The Manufacture is now launching a collection of sport-chic watches – DEFY - and has thus reconnected with its recent past of excellence and records in chronometry. An unusual design, an avant-garde technology, a unique style, an outstanding performance… truly a revolution in both aesthetic and mechanical design. Power, virility, modernity, he who wears it has a racy lifestyle.

2007:«Grand Prix de l’Horlogerie» in Geneva : the ZENITH Manufacture received the award for the DEFY Xtreme Open El Primero Stealth in the Public’s Prize category.

An unusual design, avant-garde technology, unique style, extraordinary performance. A true revolution in aesthetics and technology that has confirmed ZENITH’s global success whilst opening up new horizons: the sports watch revisited by the spirit of luxury.

2008:The principal event of 2008 is the arrival of the 8800 Tourbillon Zero-G (zero gravity) movement, a major innovation in the world of watchmaking. This revolutionary system, which includes a gyroscope cage tourbillon and constant horizontal escapement, means the mechanism avoids the effects of gravity and thus gives considerably greater accuracy.
Defy Classic does justice to the Zero-G with 2 breathtakingly designed constructions, one Classic and one Xtreme, both available in a numbered edition with the 2008 millésime.

2009:ZENITH celebrate the 40 years of the El Primero
Developed in 1969, El Primero, throbbing at 36,000 vibrations per hour, was the first automatic integrated chronograph movement, capable of measuring short time intervals to a tenth of a second.
Today it still is the fastest automatic chronograph and the most precise in the world.

PHILOSOPHY

A WATCH OR A WORK OF ART

In Latin, artist and artisan are synonyms. Both are creators of emotion. This intangible pulsing of the senses within oneself.

While quality, perfection or precision are mere objective values, only emotion can reveal pure beauty. When man lies down “At the edge of the world”, at the foot of this monumental red sculpture, the thoughts of the artist are not understood – they are felt. Suddenly, infinity is present, and with one breath of air, the world belongs to him.

Visiting ZENITH means visiting the workshop of an artist: for just a fleeting moment, you almost enter his secret garden… From the meticulous cut of a main plate to the patient assembly of our watches, from the plans for a mechanical movement by the construction engineer to the design of the case by the artist, beauty is eternally present. From the calculated selection of finely scaled alligator skin to the precision of the digitally controlled machines, from the eye to the hand or from the sketch to the watch, each and every step aims at the production of beauty. Each piece is polished with tender, loving care to perfection. Each wheel, bridge, hand and dial takes up our challenge, the challenge of perfection.

Nevertheless, this is not the source of the emotion. In the end, and against all expectations, the total is not equal to the sum of all elements, but goes far beyond it. Where does this come from? Without a doubt, from the century-old expertise of ZENITH watchmakers, the vision of a genius, the vision of Georges Favre-Jacot, founder of ZENITH, and from the creativity of his spiritual successors.

We could think of fairy dust, just like in the fairy tales we read to our children, spreading a rain of stars over the planet. Our senses awake, our hearts pound, our eyes sparkle. This is magic. This is art. This is ZENITH!

MOVEMENTS

Mechanisms with a soul of infinite scope

El Primero on the move. Here is a creation of quite extraordinary complexity: the first self-winding chronograph calibre with an oscillating weight rotating on a centrally positioned ball bearing, and with all the parts and complications perfectly integrated. It was in March 1969 that it made its première appearance, after more than five years of design and preliminary work. The handsomely scaled calibre has thirteen diameter lines, i.e. 30 mm for a slim 6.50 mm thickness, or 7.55 mm for the instantaneous changeover triple date version.

The movement has a column wheel and classical reset hammers and to this day is still the finest on the market. It is also the most accurate of all movements. The glucydur balance wheel combined with a flat spiral spring made from top quality non-magnetic self-compensating Anachron oscillates at a rate of 36 000 vibrations per hour, to produce chronometer measurements accurate to one-tenth of a second.

The movement is not affected by any sudden changes or magnetic fields, and has the best long-term timing ratio in its category. The movement is comprised of 354 parts, and in the most complicated version 277 of these are different parts. There are 41 screws, plus 31 jewels; over fifty different points have to be oiled using ten different grades of lubricant (including four dry lubricants for the high-performance escapement) for the simple version, and another 38 points for the main plate of the triple date mechanism.

This truly wondrous movement requires a total of nine months work, involves between five and fifty separate operations per part, some fifty milling procedures at different points on the dial side and 77 milling procedures on the bridges side. More than eighteen different metals are used to make one movement, combined with the devotion of more than twenty specialist watchmakers dedicated to their daily work. Such complexity as found in El Primero, the movement created by ZENITH, must surely have a soul.

THE PERFECT MECHANICAL MOVEMENT

Beholder of a unique and prodigious savoir-faire, ZENITH itself conceives, manufactures and assembles its movements in its workshops in Le Locle, in Switzerland. Thus the legitimacy of priding itself on the name Manufacture — “Manufacturing Company.” A term and a guarantee of excellence today rare for a watch brand.

Resting on a tradition of quality, ZENITH produces three of the most important mechanical movements of the luxury watch industry — the automatic integrated chronograph El Primero, the mechanical ultra-slim Elite movement, and the hand-wound 22-line 5011 K movement. These instruments of measure, of exemplary technical skill, more than perfectly marry performance and innovation. Optimizing the integration of the necessary parts for functioning, they are far from cumbersome and come with various complications (moonphase, Fly-Back, Dual Time), enabling ZENITH to offer an extended and complete range of watches. Simple to use, extremely reliable, they are evidence of a search for perfection in the smallest detail — just as much in the latest advanced micro-mechanics, as in high-tech lubrication, or as in esthetics. Established on all continents for the absolute accuracy of its movements and anxious to offer its clients the best in the way of precision, ZENITH cultivates its passion for innovation, untiringly seeking to improve the technical realization of its movements.

EL PRIMERO

Symbol of excellence, El Primero was the first automatic integrated chronograph movement, capable of measuring short time intervals to a tenth of a second.

Developed in 1969, and having rapidly become a standard of reference among time-pieces, El Primero — whose name in Esperanto conveys the universality of a humanist calling — illustrates the creative genius and refinement of ZENITH. Conceived according to an almost academic drawing, with no concession made to the unessential, El Primero is a chef d’oeuvre of innovation. This movement is perfectly integrated and taking little space, it combines accuracy and precision — the position of each plate, each part and every element is optimized. In addition, its column wheel — veritable orchestral leader — centralizes and coordinates instructions transmitted by the push-buttons. 

Unmatched to this day, El Primero is the only chronograph movement capable of measuring short time intervals to one-tenth of a second — a performance made possible by the use of a balance-wheel oscillating at the frequency of 36,000 alternations per hour. This absolute precision enables it to succeed in passing the tests of the COSC (Swiss Official Control of Chronometers). Chronograph with two push-buttons, autonomous for more than 50 hours, this movement embellished with an instantaneous date-change mechanism can be fitted with other complications — date-day-month indicator, moonphase, Fly-Back. Precise, accurate, and sophisticated, El Primero with its exquisite finish and striking profile, is a symbol of excellence — it bears witness to several centuries of the art of watchmaking and represents what is the most accomplished in the field.

ELITE

A treasure of accuracy, performance and rigor, which as of its launching, was elected “Best Mechanical Movement of the Year.”

When ZENITH imagines a new movement, it invests in time and relies on its experience. Created in 1994, the Elite movement demonstrates the quest for perfection that the factory in Le Locle would be incapable of bypassing. Five years of studies were necessary for the elaboration of this ultra-slim measuring instrument, which reveals a savoir-faire in watchmaking patiently built up since 1865.
 

Perfectly integrated, it measures only 3.38 mm in thickness, attains 28,800 alternations per hour and benefits from all the attributes and technical qualities unique to ZENITH movements (instantaneous date change, stop second, power-reserve of over 50 hours, fine tuning, etc.).
 

This measuring instrument, appreciated by connoisseurs, offers the largest variety of models within the ZENITH collection. With hour and minute hands and a small second hand at 9 o’clock — one of the trademarks of the brand — numerous complications can be included such as Dual Time or the power-reserve indicator, and it comes in either hand-wound or automatic versions.
 

In uniting all the qualities of performance, accuracy and precision in an elegant geometrical form, is where the Elite movement succeeds brilliantly.