Zenith (watchmaker)

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Zenith
Type Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry Luxury Watches
Founded Le Locle, Neuchâtel, Switzerland 1865
Founder(s) Georges Favre-Jacot
Headquarters Le Locle,
Switzerland
Area served Worldwide
Key people Jean-Frédéric Dufour (CEO)
Parent LVMH
Website zenith-watches.com

Zenith SA is a high-end luxury Swiss watch manufacture started in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot at the age of 22, in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel.[1]

Zenith has a long reputation for the quality and precision of their watches, with 1,565 1st-place precision awards to date. It is one of few remaining Swiss watch manufacturers that still produce their own movements in-house.

The El Primero calibre, which was first released in 1969, though 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).[2] 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.[3]

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 Jean-Frédéric Dufour, formerly of Chopard.

Photo gallery

  • Chronograph El Primero, first version 1970

  • Zenith El Primero

  • Zenith El Primero

  • Zenith El Primero

  • Zenith pocket watch c. 1900–1910

  • Inside of Zenith pocket watch c. 1900–1910

  • Zenith Grande Chronomaster XXT, Quantième perpétuel

See also

  • List of watch manufactures

References

  1. ↑ "History". Zenith International. Retrieved 2009-04-16. 
  2. ↑ "The Stainless-Steel Zenith El Primero Chronomaster". timezone.com. Retrieved 2009-04-16. 
  3. ↑ "Best Watches of 2012: Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th". R.G. Holland. Retrieved 2012-11-24. 

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