BrandSwiss
Zenith
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In 1969, the watchmaking world experienced its own space race. Three manufacturers were competing to produce the first automatic chronograph movement, and Zenith's El Primero, beating at 36,000 vibrations per hour, five hertz, faster than any competitor, crossed the finish line to become one of the most significant mechanical movements in horological history. That Rolex would later choose this movement for its Daytona chronograph, using it from 1988 to 2000, says everything about the El Primero's technical credibility.
Zenith was founded in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot, a twenty-two-year-old watchmaker in Le Locle, Switzerland, in the heart of the Jura mountains watchmaking region. Favre-Jacot was a pioneer of vertical integration, he believed that only through controlling the entire watchmaking process, from raw materials to finished timepiece, could the highest quality be achieved. This philosophy, radical for its time when most Swiss watchmakers were loose networks of specialised artisans, would define Zenith's identity for over a century.
Recognition came early and often. At the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition, Zenith won its first award for chronometry. The company went on to accumulate over 2,300 chronometry prizes and 50 major awards, making it one of the most decorated watch manufacturers in Swiss history.
The El Primero project began in the 1960s as a centennial celebration, with the goal of creating an automatic chronograph movement for Zenith's hundredth anniversary in 1965. The engineering challenges proved formidable, and the movement was not completed until 1969. The resulting calibre 3019 PHC, later known as El Primero ("the first" in Esperanto), combined a date display, three chronograph subdials, and the highest frequency of any serial-production automatic movement. It remains in production today, evolved but fundamentally unchanged, a testament to the original engineering.
In 1999, LVMH acquired Zenith, bringing the independent manufacture into the luxury conglomerate alongside TAG Heuer and Hublot. Under LVMH ownership, Zenith has maintained its identity as a chronograph specialist while expanding into new collections including the Defy line.
On the Nordic auction market, Zenith timepieces are strongly represented at Kaplans Auktioner in Stockholm, which accounts for the largest share of the 214 lots tracked on Auctionist. A Zenith "Vintage 1955" has reached 55,000 NOK, while El Primero Chronomaster models trade between 35,000 and 50,000 NOK. The Defy El Primero Xtreme has achieved 40,000 SEK. Zenith occupies a respected position in the Nordic watch collecting community as a manufacture that offers genuine in-house chronograph movements at prices below the Swiss luxury peak.