Zenith

Zenith was founded in 1865 by 22-year-old Georges Favre-Jacot in Le Locle, Switzerland. Inspired by American watch companies using mass production, he created one of the first vertically integrated watch manufactures, producing all components under one roof. At the 1900 Paris World's Fair, the company won the Grand Prix for the Zenith movement, and was formally renamed after it in 1911. Zenith accumulated over 2,300 prizes in chronometry competitions. In 1959, Zenith purchased movement maker Martel and began developing an automatic chronograph. On January 10, 1969, the El Primero was unveiled - one of the first integrated automatic chronograph movements, operating at 36,000 vibrations per hour, enabling 1/10th of a second precision. Zenith Radio Corporation acquired the company in 1972 and halted mechanical movement production. Watchmaker Charles Vermot secretly preserved the El Primero tooling and plans. Dixi Group purchased the company from Zenith Radio in 1978. When automatic movements regained demand, Ebel and later Rolex sourced the El Primero. Rolex used it in the Cosmograph Daytona from 1988 until approximately 2000. LVMH acquired Zenith in November 1999 for $48.4 million. In 2017, Zenith introduced the Defy El Primero 21 with 1/100th second precision.