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Zenith - The Quality Goes In Before The Name Goes On
A manufacture that exudes luxury and exclusivity in every part, Zenith has been crafting novelties since the 19th century. Zenith was founded in the year 1865 by George Favre-Jacot and has since been creating a legacy under the horology world.
With a heritage that is replete with path-breaking and revolutionary moments, the brand has, since its foundation, constantly been introducing reliable and accurate timepieces to the horological world. A trusted and revered name in the watch world, Zenith believes in following a visionary approach to creating unique and futuristic models.
The El Primero
At a press conference on January 10th, 1969, Zenith launched a chronograph movement that fully integrated and vibrated at a high frequency. Christened the 3019 PHC, this mechanical piece was renamed as the “El Primero”, translating to “the first” in Spanish.
After waiting for 9 months, Zenith made this movement available for the market in September. This made their competitors achieve a headstart but the confidence Zenith had in its movement was exemplary.
The race for crafting the first-ever automatic chronograph was on. Seiko, the brand that created the first-ever quartz wristwatch was also digging its pathway into the automatic movement section. Whereas, the Chronomatic group which consisted of Heuer-Leonidas, Breitling, Hamilton-Buren, and Dubois-Depraz were also in the process of manufacturing an automatic movement.
Anyhow, Seiko had already introduced an automatic movement in May, before the imminent launch of “El Primero”. Named the 6139 automatic chronographs, it was launched only for the Japanese market.
Even then, the Zenith El Primero was the first chronograph with a high frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour which was fully integrated. Whereas, the chronographs by the Chronomatic group vibrated at 19,800 vph and the movement by Seiko vibrated at 21,600 vph. The “El Primero” was only 6.5mm thick and was slimmer than the traditional chronograph.
Zenith is known for encouraging extreme sports and innovation. The “El Primero” for example led towards the automatic movement. Designing out of the box timepieces, Zenith has always made sure that it keeps the enthusiasts on their toes. This can be supported by the fact that Zenith was the brand that supported the record-breaking jump by Felix Baumgartner that made the El Primero Stratos the watch to break the sound barrier.
The Defy
The Zenith Defy Collection is a collection of watches that are available for both men and women. The Defy collection reflects the brand’s zest for the never-ending pursuit of precision through innovation. Setting new standards of performance and style, the Defy collection is equipped with state of the art movements and innovative forms and materials. This collection follows the brand’s heritage and legacy and provides it with the acumen of Zenith.
The Chronomaster
Depicting the Manufacture’s acumen of crafting high-frequency automatic chronograph movements, the Chronomaster collection sits well with Zenith’s heritage. The unique design that Zenith garnered for the past 50 years has been put into the Chronomaster collection. Recreating the 70s and 60s and its behest, this collection is the epitome of watchmaking. By drawing the past and the present close, the Chronomaster collection reached a new level of precision with the 1/10th of a second function version of the renowned movement.
The Pilot
The Pilot collection is a collection of timepieces that draws its inspiration from the early ages of the aviation industry. The creators of the first Pilot watch, Zenith has the trademark of stamping the term ‘Pilot’ on its dials which was acquired in 1904. The modern-day Pilot collection pays homage to the conundrums of time and adventure related to it.
The Elite
This unisex collection of watches is an elite amalgamation of past and present. A brilliant viewpoint of modern-day Zenith, this collection reflects a strong reflection of minimalism and petite lines. Though distancing itself from the past, this collection collects the elements of design and movements from the 20th century. Keeping Zenith’s vision of contemporary elegance, this collection adds to its elegance with the Elite Classic and the Moonphase models.