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Zenith (watchmaker)
Zenith SA is a French owned Swiss luxury watch manufacturing subsidiary of LVMH. The company was started in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel and is one of the oldest continuously operating watchmakers. Favre-Jacot invented the concept of "in house movements", believing that only through control of the entire watchmaking process could the highest quality be achieved. Zenith was purchased by LVMH in November 1999, becoming one of several brands in its watch and jewelry division, which includes TAG Heuer and Hublot. Benoit de Clerck is the company's current president and CEO.
In 1865, at the age of 22, George Favre-Jacot began manufacturing watches under his name at a small workshops in Le Locle, Switzerland. After witnessing the success of American watch companies Waltham and Elgin utilizing mass production to sell affordable and reliable timepieces, he invested heavily in his own company to create a vertically integrated watchmaking operation, becoming the first manufacture d'horlogerie. At the 1900 Paris World's Fair, George Favre-Jacot & Co. was awarded the Grand Prix for their "Zenith" movement,[citation needed] so named because Favre-Jacot believed it represented the best of precision timekeeping. In 1911, the company was renamed to Fabrique des Montres Zenith S.A. after the prized movement.
To further support vertical integration of watch manufacturing, Zenith purchased movement maker Martel in 1959. Through the acquisition, and at the direction of Zenith leadership, the company began work on an automatic chronograph movement that was to commemorate the watchmaker's 100th anniversary. In 1969, four years after the original target date, they announce their achievement with the El Primero movement.
Due to ongoing naming disputes with the Zenith Radio Company, the company was unable to achieve a sizable market share in the United States. In 1968, Zenith merged with Movado (and later Mondia as Movado-Zenith-Mondia) to sell in the United States under the already established Movado brand. With the popularity of quartz watches increasing, Zenith Radio Company decided to enter the market in 1972 through acquisition of Zenith, joining the two companies of the same name. It was during this ownership that production of mechanical movements was halted and the production shifted to quartz movements, a move meant to save the company, but ultimately led to it being put up for sale in 1978.
Dixi, who already had purchased many struggling Swiss watchmakers, purchased Movado-Zenith-Mondia from Zenith Radio Company in 1978 under the leadership of Paul Castella. While other brands slowly shuttered production due to the quartz crisis, Zenith was continuing to produce wristwatches as it struggled to survive. As automatic movements began to come back into demand, Ebel (and later Rolex) sourced the El Primero movement for their own chronograph timepieces, which breathed new life into the struggling brand.[citation needed] In 1999, as watch consortiums (led by Swatch Group) began to acquire brands, LVMH purchased Zenith for $48.4 million USD, which continues to be a part of the luxury goods conglomerate today.
George Favre-Bulls was born in 1843. At the age of nine he stopped attending school to pursue an apprenticeship in watchmaking, and by the age of 13, he had already established his own business. He married Louise-Philippine Jacot-Descombes at the age of 20, and was known from that point on as George Favre-Jacot. He died in 1917 at the age of 74.[citation needed]
Favre-Jacot at some time requested that a house be built for himself at Le Locle, by the architect Le Corbusier. He was also closely involved with another prominent architect, named Alphonse Laverrière. His relationship with this latter architect was the source of influence upon the Werkbund movement. The two men collaborated with a shared artistic vision of the nature of production, to the extent to which they themselves somewhat reformed the artistic situation within francophone Switzerland at the time.
At the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition, Zenith won its first award for chronometry and in honor of that award, the manufacturer released the Grand Prix Paris 1900 pocket watch featuring a depiction of the prize on the case.[citation needed] In the 1920s, Zenith developed the Calibre 26x series of chronometers based on an 8-day car clock, which were used for both marine and observatory competitions.[citation needed] In the 1940s, Zenith continued their efforts to develop precision movements, and won five straight (1950-1954) Neuchatel Observatory prizes with their Caliber 135.[citation needed] In total, Zenith has won over 2,300 prizes for chronometry.[citation needed]
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Zenith (watchmaker)
Zenith SA is a French owned Swiss luxury watch manufacturing subsidiary of LVMH. The company was started in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel and is one of the oldest continuously operating watchmakers. Favre-Jacot invented the concept of "in house movements", believing that only through control of the entire watchmaking process could the highest quality be achieved. Zenith was purchased by LVMH in November 1999, becoming one of several brands in its watch and jewelry division, which includes TAG Heuer and Hublot. Benoit de Clerck is the company's current president and CEO.
In 1865, at the age of 22, George Favre-Jacot began manufacturing watches under his name at a small workshops in Le Locle, Switzerland. After witnessing the success of American watch companies Waltham and Elgin utilizing mass production to sell affordable and reliable timepieces, he invested heavily in his own company to create a vertically integrated watchmaking operation, becoming the first manufacture d'horlogerie. At the 1900 Paris World's Fair, George Favre-Jacot & Co. was awarded the Grand Prix for their "Zenith" movement,[citation needed] so named because Favre-Jacot believed it represented the best of precision timekeeping. In 1911, the company was renamed to Fabrique des Montres Zenith S.A. after the prized movement.
To further support vertical integration of watch manufacturing, Zenith purchased movement maker Martel in 1959. Through the acquisition, and at the direction of Zenith leadership, the company began work on an automatic chronograph movement that was to commemorate the watchmaker's 100th anniversary. In 1969, four years after the original target date, they announce their achievement with the El Primero movement.
Due to ongoing naming disputes with the Zenith Radio Company, the company was unable to achieve a sizable market share in the United States. In 1968, Zenith merged with Movado (and later Mondia as Movado-Zenith-Mondia) to sell in the United States under the already established Movado brand. With the popularity of quartz watches increasing, Zenith Radio Company decided to enter the market in 1972 through acquisition of Zenith, joining the two companies of the same name. It was during this ownership that production of mechanical movements was halted and the production shifted to quartz movements, a move meant to save the company, but ultimately led to it being put up for sale in 1978.
Dixi, who already had purchased many struggling Swiss watchmakers, purchased Movado-Zenith-Mondia from Zenith Radio Company in 1978 under the leadership of Paul Castella. While other brands slowly shuttered production due to the quartz crisis, Zenith was continuing to produce wristwatches as it struggled to survive. As automatic movements began to come back into demand, Ebel (and later Rolex) sourced the El Primero movement for their own chronograph timepieces, which breathed new life into the struggling brand.[citation needed] In 1999, as watch consortiums (led by Swatch Group) began to acquire brands, LVMH purchased Zenith for $48.4 million USD, which continues to be a part of the luxury goods conglomerate today.
George Favre-Bulls was born in 1843. At the age of nine he stopped attending school to pursue an apprenticeship in watchmaking, and by the age of 13, he had already established his own business. He married Louise-Philippine Jacot-Descombes at the age of 20, and was known from that point on as George Favre-Jacot. He died in 1917 at the age of 74.[citation needed]
Favre-Jacot at some time requested that a house be built for himself at Le Locle, by the architect Le Corbusier. He was also closely involved with another prominent architect, named Alphonse Laverrière. His relationship with this latter architect was the source of influence upon the Werkbund movement. The two men collaborated with a shared artistic vision of the nature of production, to the extent to which they themselves somewhat reformed the artistic situation within francophone Switzerland at the time.
At the 1900 Paris Universal Exhibition, Zenith won its first award for chronometry and in honor of that award, the manufacturer released the Grand Prix Paris 1900 pocket watch featuring a depiction of the prize on the case.[citation needed] In the 1920s, Zenith developed the Calibre 26x series of chronometers based on an 8-day car clock, which were used for both marine and observatory competitions.[citation needed] In the 1940s, Zenith continued their efforts to develop precision movements, and won five straight (1950-1954) Neuchatel Observatory prizes with their Caliber 135.[citation needed] In total, Zenith has won over 2,300 prizes for chronometry.[citation needed]