Zenith
- Founded
- 1865 · Le Locle
- Collections
- 5
- References
- 36
Georges Favre-Jacot founded Zenith in 1865 and was among the first to bring every watchmaking trade under one roof. Its defining achievement is the El Primero of 1969, the first automatic chronograph to run at 36,000 vibrations per hour. Its defining story is Charles Vermot, the watchmaker who defied an order to scrap the El Primero tooling during the quartz crisis and hid it in the factory attic — which is the only reason the movement survived to power the Rolex Daytona 16520 a decade later.
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Before you ask.
What is the Zenith El Primero?
The El Primero of 1969 was the first automatic chronograph to run at 36,000 vibrations per hour. Its tooling survived the quartz crisis only because watchmaker Charles Vermot defied an order to scrap it and hid it in the factory attic, and the movement went on to power the Rolex Daytona 16520 a decade later.
When was Zenith founded?
Georges Favre-Jacot founded Zenith in Le Locle in 1865 and was among the first to bring every watchmaking trade under one roof.
Does Watch Safe cover Zenith?
Yes. Zenith is catalogued in the Watch Safe reference library, and any Zenith serial number can be looked up in the public registry to check for an existing record or theft flag. Authentication is performed by independent expert authenticators; Watch Safe records the result and publishes the registry entry.
Checking a specific Zenith? Look up its serial number in the registry.