Zenith Manufacture

Hi everyone!

I thought I’d share with you my visit at the Zenith Manufacture in Le Locle, Switzerland. Now I am incredibly lucky to (i) live 2h30 away from there and (ii) have amazing friends that know I have a thing for watches and gifted me this experience for my birthday. And frankly? It was a breathtaking experience.

The visit must be booked and happens every Friday from 9:00 to 12:15 (be on time, swiss precision here!), organized by the Neuchâtel region tourism office. Groups are 8 people at most. We were greeted by Catherine, our guide, with coffee and croissants. As a French, I have to say, this was icing on the cake even before it started. 😉

Then, a short introduction on the brand: where it all started (basically, where it still is, in Le Locle!), its core values and goals, that is, excellence and precision. As one of the only brands that still does full in-house movement production and assembly, Zenith has a solid place in the history of watchmaking. I will try not bother anyone with it because I am pretty sure most people here are familiar the story. But in summary, Zenith was founded in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot, and for the longest time, kept winning most of the watchmaking precision awards there were. In 1969, the El Primero Caliber was the first automatic chronograph movement (36000 rotations/h with a 50h power reserve) on the market.

Followed many years of commercial success until Zenith was bought by the Zenith Radio Corporation, and American group, shortly before the quartz crisis. While the mechanical watch market plummeted, the shareholders decided that Zenith had to stop producing mechanical calibers and shift completely to quartz, destroying all old tools and machines in the process. For reference, at the time, one stamp to produce a specific caliber component cost around 40 000 swiss francs. And you need several dozens of them to produce one caliber. Charles Vermot, who was head of the team producing the El Primero caliber at the time, tried to fight this decision, without success. As such, he decided to hide as many tools as he could in the attic of the manufacture, even walling the whole thing so it could not be found.

And that’s why 9 years later, when Zenith Radio Corporation sold back Zenith, the production of the El Primero caliber could start again which allowed Zenith to slowly reclaim its due place in the watchmaking industry landscape. As an anecdote, the El Primero caliber was so famous that Rolex sought to acquire it for the Daytona at the beginning of the 80’s, eventually ending up using it for almost twenty years in a slightly modified version. Zenith was finally bought by LVMH in 2000 to be the brand we know today. 

What amazed me the most was that nothing was eluded during the visit. It was a beautifully orchestrated mix of history and discussions with employees from all departments. From R&D and design to prototyping, production, assembly, quality control, hand-on time with historical pieces and more, we really felt inside every day’s life at the factory. And of course, how could I forget the visit of the famous attic where Charles Vermot hid the tools to fabricate El Primero. The same goes with the letter to the shareholders of Zenith Radio Corporation asking to suspend the destruction order, and his shivering voice in the recording evocating production resuming following Rolex’s order.

At the end of the visit, we spent great deal of time in the manufacture’s boutique, where two great hosts took over to present us with the latest collections, including many of the boutique exclusives (see the blue Chronomaster below). Fitting encouraged of course! I personally have a very sweet spot for the Chronomaster Original 1969 from 2021.

In summary, it was an absolutely amazing experience that I strongly recommend to any watch lovers out there visiting Switzerland. You will not be disappointed!