Self-winding, or automatic, watch calibers had been around in some form since Abraham-Louis Perrelet invented the first one in 1770, but the technology had yet to be successfully applied to a chronograph caliber. It was in that spirit that Zenith, on the occasion of its 100th anniversary in 1965, decided to tackle the biggest technical challenge that faced the watch industry to that point: the invention of a self-winding mechanical chronograph movement. In all, Zenith would go on to win 2,330 chronometry prizes over the years - a record that still stands - establishing the brand as a leader in the pursuit of timekeeping precision. Another of the company’s historical movements, Caliber 135, dominated the Neuchâtel Observatory’s chronometry awards for an unprecedented five years, from 1950 to 1954. became Zenith in 1911, the company taking its new name from a top-of-the-line movement it created that won a Grand Prix for precision at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair.
Favre-Jacot, a contemporary of Swiss modern architecture pioneer le Corbusier, took his own pioneering approach to making watches, becoming one of the first to bring the various horological disciplines under one roof as opposed to the more common établissage system that most watchmakers used at the time, which had different parts made in different small workshops before being delivered to another workshop for assembly into a finished watch, Georges Favre-Jacot & co. Watchmaker Georges Favre-Jacot was a mere 22 years of age when he founded the atelier that would become Zenith in Le Locle, Switzerland in 1865. Here we examine what made the El Primero so special in the first place and introduce you to some modern watches that demonstrate how it is still evolving and improving in the 21st century. The reasons for its renown are several, from the technical revolution it represented at its origin to the legendary role it played in the post- Quartz Crisis revival of the mechanical watch. The Zenith El Primero, found today in watches throughout Zenith’s collection, from the Chronomaster to the Defy to the Pilot, is arguably the watch world’s most famous movement - more widely known, in fact, than some of the watch models to whom it has given life during its half-century-plus of existence. 0% interest for up to 24 months available on select brands.
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