Top 27 Facts About Zenith watches – Interesting Things to Know
Zenith is one of the most well-known and reputable watch brands in the world. The company has a long, rich, and interesting story, and is responsible for countless important watchmaking innovations. Zenith is a company that has played a big role in pushing the Swiss watch industry forward, and in that, established itself as a key player in fine Swiss watchmaking.
The company is one of the oldest luxury watchmakers in the world, being founded in 1865 but despite this, many are unaware of the company’s rich history. So if you’re looking to learn more about Zenith, the company, and its watches, you have come to the right place. In this article, we are looking closer at the top most interesting facts about Zenith.
Top interesting facts about Zenith
1. Georges Favre-Jacot started with watchmaking at a young age
The founder of Zenith, Georges Favre-Jacot started with watchmaking at a very young age. He had a strong passion for watchmaking and dropped out of formal education when he was just nine years old to pursue watchmaking and watch manufacturing.
At just 22 years old, he started Zenith based on all of the knowledge that he had acquired about watchmaking over the years.
2. Zenith was the first watch brand to introduce the concept of “in-house”
Today, “in-house” is all the rage in the watch industry. It shows that a brand is someone with the know-how and the skills to develop and manufacture a watch and it shows that it is a brand to rely on.
Zenith, a brand that has always aimed to push boundaries became one of the first watch brands to introduce the concept of “in-house” manufacturing.
Georges Favre-Jacot was a very skilled watchmaker and managed to bring all of the manufacturing in-house. He became a man who developed and created a watch entirely made in-house from start to finish including finishing, part-manufacturing, and the assembly of the movement. He moved each of the manufacturing steps in-house and at the time, this was something highly unusual as many manufacturers outsourced many parts of their manufacturing.
This allowed Zenith, early on, to oversee the entire production chain and ensure higher manufacturing quality.
3. Zenith created the world’s first automatic chronograph in 1969
Zenith is synonymous with chronographs and is known for making some of the best mechanical chronographs in the world. In 1969, Zenith succeeded with something that no manufacturer had ever been able to do before – create an automatic chronograph.
During this time, several companies work on developing an automatic chronograph but Zenith became the first. Zenith named the chronograph the “El Primero”, a name that is today synonymous with the brand and one of the most well-regarded and attractive chronograph movements ever created.
4. Mahatma Gandhi owned a Zenith watch – that has a particularly interesting story
Interestingly, the man who is known for his disdain for material possessions owned a sterling silver Zenith pocket watch. It was one of few of Gandhi’s personal belongings and the alarm function of the watch helped remind him of his prayer schedule.
The watch was gifted to Gandhi by Indira Nehru, (to-be Mrs. Indira Gandhi). She was actually surprised that Gandhi used it regularly and grew very fond of it. On one of Gandhi’s journeys, the watch was stolen. He even has notes about this event in his personal notebook.
Luckily, the thief got a bad conscience and felt guilty about stealing from a man who was fighting for his freedom. Consequently, he returned the watch to Gandhi. Of course, Gandhi forgave the thief.
Eventually, the watch ended up at a private collector but then went up for auction on the 5th of March 2009 in New York. An Indian billionaire paid $1.8 million to buy the watch and bring it back to India.
5. Zenith is the watch company with the most awards
Zenith proudly holds an impressive 2,333 timekeeping precision awards. Thanks to its long and rich history, combined with the company’s mission to push boundaries and consistently innovate, Zenith has been awarded many different, prestigious awards. Zenith won its first award in 1902 for precision watchmaking.
6. Zenith has pushed boundaries and explored new territories time and time again
In the journey toward the biggest challenge, Zenith has brought its timepieces to the harshest environments and exposed them to the most extreme environments.
A Norwegian explorer named Roald Amundsen became the first person to explore the unexplored territories of the North and South Poles in the early 20th century and with him on his journeys, he had a Zenith wristwatch. Roald Amundsen was the first man to tread the South Pole. Later, Johan Ernst Nilsson, a Swedish explorer traveled between the North and the South Poles under Zenith’s Pole2Pole project which took place between 2009 and 2012.
These are just two examples of how Zenith is involved in extremely challenging missions to prove the performance and ruggedness of watches.
7. Zenith won its first Grand Prix – Grand Prix de Paris in 1900
Zenith won its first Grand Prix medal, Grand Prix de Paris year 1900 at the Paris Universal Exhibition. The company received a gold medal for its innovations regarding technical watchmaking innovation, including design.
8. Zenith made on the earliest wristwatches
During Zenith’s early days, the market was all about pocket watches. But in the 1900s, wristwatches became more and more popular. Zenith was a proponent of the wristwatch as they saw the benefits they offered and therefore also became one of the first watch manufacturers to make them.
Zenith launched one of the first wristwatches in 1911 whose design is inspired by a pocket watch. Like many other pocket watches, it featured a white enamel dial and a large winding crown.
9. Zenith put its first El Primero watch on an airplane
To test its first El Primero watches, Zenith performed a serious test of the watches. The new watch, featuring Zenith’s brand new El Primero caliber was attached to the landing gear of a Boeing 707. With the watch attached to the plane, the plane then traveled over the Atlantic Ocean, from Pris to New York. Naturally, the watch was subject to extreme environments on the journey, being subject to temperatures of -62 degrees at an altitude of 10,000 feet. Moreover, you also need to consider the shocks and bangs that the landing gears are subject to during takeoff and landing.
Once back on land, the watch was assessed and to everyone’s surprise, the watch survived and was running well with perfect accuracy.
10. Zenith is synonymous with Pilot watches
Whilst Zenith is most associated with chronograph watches and its legendary El Primero movement, the company has a long and rich history with pilot watches and aviation.
As a matter of fact, as you may have noticed, no Swiss watch brand solely uses the term “Pilot” to describe their pilot’s watches.
The reason is that Zenith has trademarked the term “Pilot”, hence why no other watchmaker is allowed to use that term. Some brands use variations of that term but only Zenith uses the model name “Pilot”. Zenith has a long and rich history with aviation and continues to have a wide collection of pilot’s watches in its collection. Many of the pilot’s watches that Zenith has in its collection have long histories and close relationships with professional aviators.
Zenith’s interest and relationship with aviation go all the way back to when aviation was just in its early stage. An important event in Zenith’s history was in 1909 when the French aviator Louis Blériot became the first man to fly across the English Channel wearing a Zenith pilot’s watch.
Blériot said the following about Zenith in their guestbook:
“I am very satisfied with the ZENITH watch which I usually use and I cannot recommend it highly enough to people who care about accuracy”.
This became the start of Zenith’s close relationship with aviation and its devotion to developing pilots’ watches and instruments. Zenith’s passion for aviation has led to the creation of some of the most iconic aviation timepieces which have set the standard for what we perceive a pilot watch to be.
11. Zenith developed a movement that dominated the market
In the 1950s, the competition amongst watch brands in various chronometry competitions was tough as all companies wanted to prove that they produced the best and most accurate movements. Zenith released the caliber 135 that would dominate all competitors due to its superiority. Together with the Chronometry Laboratory, Zenith presented the new movement that included numerous innovative features. Zenith would go on to win five consecutive Neuchâtel Observatory chronometry prizes between 1950 and 1954 which at the time was unprecedented.
12. Zenith was the first watch brand to use molybdenum disulphide as a surface coating
Introducing it on its legendary El Primero movement, Zenith became the world’s first watch company to use molybdenum disulphide as a surface coating on its movement. Zenith used this material on the pallets of its movement which helped improve the coefficient of sliding friction.
14. Zenith presented its legendary El Primero Chronograph movement in 1969
Without a doubt, Zenith’s most legendary and important creation ever is its El Primero Chronograph watches. By releasing the world’s first automatic chronograph movement, Zenith revolutionized the watch industry, not only because it was the first automatic chronograph but also because of its superior performance, functionality, and high-beating frequency.
15. Zenith was sold to the Zenith Radio Corporation of America in 1971
On 28th of May, 1971, Zenith was sold to the Zenith Radio Corporation of America. This was an MZM holding company that was later dissolved which led to the birth of Zenith Time SA on the 21st of June 1972.
16. Zenith’s production of the legendary El Primero slowed down in 1974 as quartz came around
In 1974, the production of the El Primero was slowed down. The American owners who owned Zenith had much greater faith in the new quartz technology that took over the market and led to the quartz crisis in Switzerland.
17. The production of the El Primero movement ceased in 1975
In 1975, the American owners of Zenith decided to stop the production of mechanical movements entirely and focus on quartz, including the legendary El Primero caliber.
18. Charles Vermot was a big opponent of the decision to stop the production of the El Primero
Charles Vermot was in charge of Workshop 4 at Zenith and he was a strong opponent of the decision to stop producing the El Primero. In fact, he wrote to the American owners of Zenith “You are wrong to believe that the automatic mechanical chronograph will die out completely.”
The workshop was also instructed to get rid of all the machinery and tools that were used to manufacture the El Primero. However, Vermot was sure that the production of the El Primero would return and therefore decided to hide all 150 presses and many of the tools required that were used to produce the El Primero movement in an attic that he bricked up.
Vermot even said on Swiss national television in 1991 the following: “I would have been prepared to bet my life on the conviction that one day production of this chronograph would restart,”. Fortunately, he was right, and the El Primero did return.
19. The El Primero caliber returned in 1984
In 1984, just as Vermot said, the production of the legendary El Primero caliber was resurrected. During this time, the demand for swiss mechanical watches recovered somewhat after the heavy blow from quartz in the 1970s. Subsequently, Zenith brought the movement back into production and many other watch brands were also interested in buying this prestigious caliber to use in their watches.
20. Rolex made a huge order for the El Primero movement from Zenith
In the 1980s, Rolex made a huge order for the El Primero movement to use in their Daytona chronograph, today known as the Zenith Daytona for this reason. Amongst other brands that used Zenith’s caliber was Ebel.
It was actually partly thanks to Rolex that the El Primero movement was brought back into production. As Rolex was developing a new chronograph, the Daytona, they needed the best automatic chronograph movement possible. Zenith’s El Primero movement, with an unmistakable reputation.
Rolex had a ten-year contract with Zenith under which Zenith would continue to deliver El Primero movements to Rolex. The first movements were delivered to Rolex in 1988 and the new Daytona model was presented at Baselworld in the same year.
The increased demand and interest for the El Primero caliber also led to Zenith developing its own collections of chronograph watches.
21. Zenith developed the first tourbillon version of the El Primero
Zenith is a brand known for pushing boundaries and continuously improving, developing, and inventing. This ultimately led to the creation of the first tourbillon version of the El Primero, named Grande ChronoMaster XXT Tourbillon. This became the world’s first high-frequency tourbillon and it took more than three years to develop.
22. Zenith developed a minute repeater which involved 30 patents in 2005
In 2005, Zenith developed a minute repeater, presented in the Class traveller. This watch involved 30 patents which just goes to show the extreme complexity of making this watch.
23. Zenith became the first watch brand to offer 50 years warranty
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary El Primero caliber, and as proof of its durability and performance, Zenith introduced a 50-year warranty for some of its anniversary El Primero models in conjunction with the 50th anniversary. This had never been done before and is a way for Zenith to prove the trust it places in the quality of this movement.
24. Zenith became the official timekeeper for many organizations
In the 1930s, Zenith became the official timekeeper and supplier of timepieces for many organizations that put their faith in Zenith’s reputation for precision and performance. Zenith delivered watches to many institutions such as the Swiss postal service, banks, and even the military. As for the latter, this explains why there are so many Zenith military watches around.
25. Zenith was acquired by LVMH in 1999
The luxury group LVMH acquired Zenith in 1999. LVMH today owns a large number of luxury watch brands including TAG Heuer, Bulgari, Hublot, and others.
The group has huge resources and great expertise within the watch industry which helps Zenith develop as a company and get access to valuable vertical watchmaking.
26. Zenith became the first watch brand to open its factory to the public
Zenith became the first watch brand to open its factory for the public to allow them to discover the beautiful art of fine watchmaking and to promote the Swiss watch industry. The company collaborates with the Neuchâtel Tourism Office to offer tours of its factory.
27. Zenith is the first watch to free-fall through the stratosphere
In 2012, Zenith partnered with the skydiver Felix Baumgartner when he took it upon himself to become the first man to free fall from the stratosphere and break the speed of sound. The Austrian skydiver performed this incredible jump on the RedBull Stratos mission on October 14, 2012.
By jumping from a space capsule that was lifted to the stratosphere using a helium balloon, he achieved a record speed of 1,242 km an hour in freefall and broke the sound barrier. With him on his jump, he wore a Zenith El Primero Stratos Flyback Striking 10th. Upon his landing, the watch was working perfectly.
