Zenith

Founded in Le Locle (Switzerland) in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot at just 22 years old, Zenith was one of the first integrated watchmaking manufactures in the history of horology, bringing all watchmaking crafts under one roof to guarantee total control over technical finishing.

The undisputed major historic milestone for Zenith occurred on January 10, 1969, with the presentation of the El Primero, considered the first integrated automatic chronograph caliber in history. Operating at a high frequency of 36,000 beats per hour (5 Hz), it is capable of measuring time intervals with an accuracy of one tenth of a second (of a second), an achievement so extraordinary that even Rolex used modified El Primero calibers for its Daytona model during more than a decade.

Today, the manufacture maintains its status as a specialist in high-frequency chronometry, reissuing historic pieces and developing the Chronomaster and Defy technologies, capable of measuring fractions down to one hundredth of a second in mechanical watchmaking.