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Zenith (watchmaker)

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Zenith
Company typeWholly owned subsidiary
IndustryLuxury Watches
FoundedLe Locle, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 1865
FounderGeorges Favre-Jacot
Headquarters
Le Locle
,

Switzerland
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Aldo Magada (CEO)
ParentLVMH
Websitezenith-watches.com

Zenith SA is a Swiss luxury watchmaker. The company was started in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot at the age of 22, in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel.[1] Zenith was purchased by LVMH in November 1999, becoming one of several brands in their watch and jewellery division. The CEO of the company is Aldo Magada, who replaced Jean-Frédéric Dufour in 2014.[2]

Zenith has a long reputation for the quality and precision of their watches. It is one of the Swiss watch manufacturers that still produce their own movements in-house.

The El Primero calibre, which was first released in 1969, and still produced today, was one of the first automatic chronograph movements and has a frequency of 36,000 alternations per hour (5 Hz). This high rate allows a resolution of 1⁄10 of a second and a potential for greater positional accuracy over the more common standard frequency of 28,800 alternations per hour (4 Hz).[3] The El Primero was honoured with a 2012 release of the El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th, limited to 1,969 pieces (in honour of 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.[4]

Georges Favre-Jacot

Favre-Jacot was born 1843 and died 1917.[5] He was an apprentice within the watch making industry whilst within his youth.[6]

Favre-Jacot at some time requested a house be built for himself at Le Locle, from the architect Le Corbusier,[7] 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 on the nature of production, to the extent to which they themselves somewhat reformed the artistic situation within francophone Switzerland at the time.[6]

  • Chronograph El Primero, first version 1970
    Chronograph El Primero, first version 1970
  • Zenith El Primero
    Zenith El Primero
  • Zenith El Primero
    Zenith El Primero
  • Zenith El Primero
    Zenith El Primero
  • Zenith El Primero
    Zenith El Primero
  • Zenith pocket watch c. 1900–1910
    Zenith pocket watch c. 1900–1910
  • Inside of Zenith pocket watch c. 1900–1910
    Inside of Zenith pocket watch c. 1900–1910
  • Zenith Grande Chronomaster XXT, Quantième perpétuel
    Zenith Grande Chronomaster XXT, Quantième perpétuel

See also

References

  1. ^ "Georges Favre-Jacot". Zenith International. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
  2. ^ http://en.worldtempus.com/article/industry-news/zenith-aldo-magada-new-ceo-1577611
  3. ^ "The Stainless-Steel Zenith El Primero Chronomaster". timezone.com. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  4. ^ "Best Watches of 2012: Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th". R.G. Holland. Retrieved 2012-11-24.
  5. ^ J. Birksted. Le Corbusier and the Occult. MIT Press 2009, 405 pages, ISBN 0262026481. Retrieved 2015-07-14.
  6. ^ a b Zenith Watches. Georges Favre-Jacot. Zenith Watches. Retrieved 2015-07-15.
  7. ^ A. Flint - Modern Man: The Life of Le Corbusier, Architect of Tomorrow Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 4 Nov 2014, 256 pages, ISBN 0544262220 [Retrieved 2015-07-15]

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