A visionary watchmaker builds the first watch Manufacture

In the Swiss Jura region, in the town of Le Locle, a visionary watchmaker had an obsession: to create the most precise and reliable watches of his time. To achieve this, Georges Favre-Jacot knew that he would have to revolutionise the way watches were made. At the time, craftsmen worked in various isolated workshops spread out around the area, with no real links between them. This made it hard to foster the progress of these complex mechanisms in which all parts interact with the others.

In 1865, this pioneer built bright and spacious buildings and brought all the watchmaking trades under a single roof, enabling appropriate testing of all components and of the complete mechanism. Results followed swiftly, and the combined strength of the various professions exercised under one roof significantly contributed to the advancement of technologies and manufacturing processes.

The watches being sent out from Le Locle around the world were indeed the most precise and reliable ever made. ZENITH´s destiny was sealed forever: it was to be bound up with the advancement of chronometric performance. Representing a rare phenomenon in the watch industry, the Manufacture is currently still located in the exact spot where the founder built his first workshop.

Chronographs Zenith precision instruments

In 1899, ZENITH presented its first chronograph movement. The start of the 20th century was a period characterised by the avid quest for precise time measurement demanded by the explosion of new technologies, with industry controlling its manufacturing times and the automobile gaining in popularity. Right from the start of the 20th century, armies would demand technical chronographs: anti-magnetic and dustproof systems, telemetric scales that make it possible to determine the enemy´s distance, and a fly-back function for pilots.

Later, in the 1960s, with the world economy booming, the Concord took flight in 1969, man set foot on the moon for the first time, and ZENITH became the first watchmaker to produce an automatic column-wheel chronograph, the legendary El Primero calibre.

El Primero

El Primero is the most famous movement in the history of watchmaking, one that every watch lover - anywhere in the world is able to cite. It is the world´s most precise series-produced mechanical calibre! What is its secret? The cadence of its balance wheel. While all others generally beat at a rate of eight vibrations per second at best, the El Primero beats 10 times in that same second.

An heroic watchmaker saves the production tools from destruction

El Primero´s story might have ended suddenly in 1975. This is when Zenith Radio Corporation, the American company owning the brand, decided to limit production to quartz watches. The decision was final, the metal - and with it a century of tradition - was to be sold off by the ton to the highest bidder.

But, Charles Vermot could not bear to see the production tools destroyed in this way. At the risk of losing his job, he began hiding essential pieces. In this way, if the mechanical movement were one day to experience renewed favour, the El Primero could thus be miraculously reborn. And the miracle did indeed take place, barely nine years later.

A number of renowned watch brands began looking to ZENITH to supply their movements, and the tools were taken out of hiding. The flow of orders breathed new life into the Manufacture. In 2000, the brand was acquired by the LVMH group, which decided to reserve El Primero for ZENITH timepieces.

All Zenith watches contain a Zenith movement

Few brands can boast of such rigorous approach. When someone purchases a ZENITH timepiece, they can be absolutely certain that it was developed and produced from start to finish at the Manufacture in Le Locle.

Chronometry awards: world record

The ZENITH Manufacture has been awarded 2,333 chronometry prizes in its century and a half of existence: a world record for pocket watches, instrument panel clocks and wristwatches. These kind of results mean they can genuinely be regarded as technical and chronometric feats.

Zenith - a pioneering spirit

Right from its beginnings, the brand has opened the way towards uncharted territories. It is this capacity to conceive new ideas and then launch into new technical developments before anyone else that makes ZENITH so fascinating.

ZENITH watches have participated in some of the greatest human adventures: the explorer Roald Amundsen´s discovery of the North and South Poles, Mahatma Gandhi´s peaceful struggle for India´s independence, the laying of the foundations of ecology by Prince Albert 1st of Monaco, Louis Blériot´s crossing of the English Channel, John F. Kennedy´s political action and French doctor Jean-Louis Étienne´s solo balloon flight over the North Pole. And very soon, a watch will participate in an attempt to be the first to cross the sound barrier in direct contact with the stratosphere, thereby proving its exceptional reliability.