The company was sold off to the Zenith Radio Corporation in 1971 and eventually to LVMH in 1999. (At one point, the special machinery and knowhow to produce the El Primero movement was even ordered destroyed but saved by a subversive Zenith engineer who heroically hid them in an attic). Sadly, like many brands during the Quartz Crisis, Zenith would eventually find itself facing financial hardships and tumult. Much like the Seiko 6139, it was not modular and in fact proved to be so compact that Rolex would later select the Zenith El Primero as the movement of choice in its Daytona. Zenith's entrant in this race took five years of development that culminated in the El Primero 3019PHC, and it was most certainly the world’s first high-frequency, automatic chronograph with a built-in calendar and accuracy of 1/10th of a second. With all three debuting their respective products in 1969, you can be certain that who crossed the finish line first has proven to be a controversial topic among watch historians. With Martel's technical capabilities now tossed into the mix, Zenith was ready to join the race alongside Seiko and the combined forces of Heuer, Breitling, Buren, and Dubois-Depraz. Shortly after acquiring the Martel Watch Company in 1960, Zenith set its sights on the ambitious concept of developing the first automatic chronograph movement. Zenith The El Primero movement is Zenith's most enduring legacy It was these watches, and the Martel Caliber 146 movement inside, that would subsequently give way to the El Primero automatic chronograph movement. This led to military applications later on - stretching from the Mark V.A altimeter and issued wristwatches seen throughout the First and Second World Wars all the way to the A Cairelli Tipo CP-2 chronographs issued to the Italian Air Force in the early 1960s. Zenith continued to gain momentum through the early 20th century, making its debut in the aviation space alongside French pioneer Louis Blériot in his daring flight across the English channel. As an impactful moment and movement, the brand decided to change its name to Zenith not long after, in 1911. The watchmaker would then move on to debut the pocket watch movement caliber named Zenith, for which it received a Grand Prix award in 1900. From connected workshops to direct supply line and train station access, Favre-Jacot's approach would eventually serve as one of the earliest examples of a truly modernized watch manufacturer.

To Favre-Jacot, this meant consolidating every discipline involved with the watchmaking process under one roof, in order to rally unity and efficiency behind his products. by 22-year-old watchmaking apprentice Georges Favre-Jacot in Le Locle, Switzerland, the company began with the vision of creating the very first, fully-integrated watchmaking house. Zenith is one of Switzerland's old-guard, historic watchmakersįounded as G.F.J & Cie. Operating under the umbrella of the LVMH Group, Zenith today enjoys broad collector popularity and is most recognized for its role in a legendary watchmaking milestone: the race to develop the first automatic chronograph watches. Tracing its inception to 1865, Zenith has long stood among historic and consequetnial watchmakers from Omega to IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre and others.

Chronomaster el primero