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1865: Founding of the "établissements Georges Favre-Jacot" by 22 year-old Georges Favre-Jacot who develops some
revolutionary construction principles for industrialised movement production, without sacrificing the all-important accuracy of
the watches thus manufactured.
The latter bear the name "Billodes", after the street and district where the factory was located.
1875: Zenith employs one-tenth of the population of Le Locle.
1896: The manufacturer wins a gold medal in the National Exhibition held in Geneva.
1900: Grand Prix award...
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 03.9300.3620/21.I001
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 03.9300.3620/51.I001
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 03.9300.3620/01.I001
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 49.9006.9004/90.R942
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 05.2430.4069/17.I011
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.A384.400/385.M385
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.A384.400/385.C855
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.3100.3600/21.M3100
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.3100.3600/21.C822
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.3100.3600/69.C823
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.3100.3600/69.M3100
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 97.T384.4061/21.C822
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 03.2434.4069/20.I010
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 03.2434.679/20.I010
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.A384.400/21.M384
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.A384.400/21.C815
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 95.9000.670/78.R584
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 95.9000.670/78.R782
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 95.9000.670/78.M9000
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 95.9000.670/51.R584
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 95.9000.670/51.R790
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Defy
Ref: 95.9000.670/51.M9000
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 29.1940.679/21.C800
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 29.1940.679/57.C808
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 11.2432.4069/21.C900
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 29.2430.4069/57.C808
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 18.2430.679/27.C721
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 29.2432.4069/27.C794
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Pilot
Ref: 11.2430.4069/21.C773
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 03.2044.4061/01.C746
Brand: Zenith
Collection: Academy
Ref: 18.2215.8805/36.C713
Brand: Zenith
Collection: El Primero
Ref: 10.2260.400/69.R573
1865: Founding of the "établissements Georges Favre-Jacot" by 22 year-old Georges Favre-Jacot who develops some
revolutionary construction principles for industrialised movement production, without sacrificing the all-important accuracy of
the watches thus manufactured.
The latter bear the name "Billodes", after the street and district where the factory was located.
1875: Zenith employs one-tenth of the population of Le Locle.
1896: The manufacturer wins a gold medal in the National Exhibition held in Geneva.
1900: Grand Prix award at the Paris World Fair.
1901: First Zenith chronograph.
1903: 1st prize in the Neuchâtel Observatory chronometry competition.
1908: Georges Favre-Jacot opens a subsidiary company in Moscow.
1911: The company is renamed "Zenith", after a mechanical movement renowned at the time for its accuracy. 67 year-old
Georges Favre-Jacot hands over the reins to his nephew, James Favre, leaving a watchmaking empire encompassing 20
workshops and a large fleet of machinery invented by him.
1923: Nine absolute records in the onboard chronometer category of the contest for seriesproduced watches held by the
Neuchâtel Observatory. Creation of an ultra-thin calibre (3.4 mm).
1929: Zenith wins the Grand Prix at the Barcelona World Fair.
1939-1945: During World War II; Zenith develops onboard timers to equip the armed forces.
1948: Ephrem Jobin creates Calibre 135.
1954: Absolute record in the wrist chronograph category of the Neuchâtel observatory contest for series-produced watches.
1960: Production launch of the mechanical 5011K movement
1969: Birth of El Primero, the first integrated automatic chronograph movement (280 parts, 30 mm in diameter, 6.5 mm thick, 55-hour power reserve, 36,000 vibrations per hour).
1972: Zenith Radio Corporation is bought up by the Americans.
1975: Production of the El Primero ceases and the firm switches entirely to quartz movements.
1978: The company is bought up by Swiss investor Paul Castella.
1981: Pierre-Alain Blum, CEO of Ebel, buys a number of El Primero movements
1986: Production of the El Primero movement is revived. Rolex orders some for its new Daytona automatic model.
1999-2001: The brand is bought up by the LVMH group headed by Bernard Arnaud. Thierry Nataf is appointed CEO.
2009: 40th anniversary of the El Primero. Jean-Frédéric Dufour is appointed to head the company.