Zenith
George Favre-Jacot was born 1843 and began as an apprentice within the watchmaking industry. At 22 years old Jacot formed zenith in Le Locle in the canton of Neuchâtel. His relationship and friendship with two architects inspired his work on movements including the creation of Werkbund. In 1917 Jacot passed away and the company continued to operate creating movements. The movements sold well and the company continued its growth until the 1970 when the quartz movement devastated the watch world. During such time Zenith was actually owned by Zenith Radio Corporation of America. The company returned to Swiss ownership in 1978 during the height of the quartz movement. The company had so many extra movements that in 1981, when Zenith was approached with a request to place an order from Ebel, Zenith was able to accommodate it from back stock they had effectively helping pull the company out of the crisis. In 1982, Zenith was approached by Rolex for a self-winding chronograph movement for the Daytona which they began to experiment with. In 1988, the first automatic Daytona was introduced, the reference 16520, which used a version of the El Primero movement Zenith had developed years prior.
Zenith was able to resume production and accept the ten-year contract from Rolex. Zenith was purchased by LVMH in November 1999.
Zenith was able to resume production and accept the ten-year contract from Rolex. Zenith was purchased by LVMH in November 1999.
