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An asset as precious now as in yesteryear: daring…
One of the first industrial watch Manufactures in the modern sense of the term
was born in a small Swiss village. To fully grasp the revolution such a company
represented at the time, it is well worth trying to imagine the winter of 1864 in
Le Locle, nestling in the Neuchâtel mountains. Like every other year, the season
was far too harsh for tilling the soil and drove farmers to become watchmakers.
In 1865, Georges Favre-Jacot, a youthful native of the village barely 22 years of
age, founded his watch factory. It was not the first, nor the only one, but it would
change forever the way of producing watches. He had spacious light-filled workshops built in a location where they still stand today. They were the first to be fitted with electric lighting and he assembled all the region’s key talents there. Over
the years, the factory grew into an international company renowned for
the excellence of its production and Georges Favre-Jacot became
on…
a captain of industry such as one encounters only a handvati y is a
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Artisans add their own touch of mastery…
The best means of alleviating the loss of amplitude of a movement that is
winding down is to compensate for the progressively reduced force of its
barrel. Two years of research and development enabled the Zenith magicians
to accommodate within the tiny space of a wristwatch a 300 year-old system:
the fusée and chain mechanism. The shape of its fusée means that the mechanism is able to keep the driving force perfectly stable, even during the letting
down of the spring. The chain ensuring transmission between the barrel and
the fusée comprises 575 parts and measures 18 cm long. Double links alternate
with intermediate links to create a highly complex structure that enables the
chain, once rewound, to withstand an over three-kilo traction force. Throughout
the power reserve (at least 50 hours), the mainspring transmits its energy to the
fusée via the chain which coils around the barrel. By adjusting the variations in
tension, the fusée regularises the force distributed to the going train and then to
the silicon escape-wheel. The size and the specific shape of the fusée stem from
particularly complex calculations performed for each of its links.
Mastery engenders daring…
To mark Zenith’s 150th anniversary, the Academy Georges Favre-Jacot offers a magnificent compendium of the multiple
skills exercised within the Manufacture. More than a mere tribute, this Haute Horlogerie model testifies to a profound
respect for the spirit of the founder without whom nothing would have ever have taken shape.
On the technical side, the Academy Georges Favre-Jacot naturally houses – what else? – a high-frequency hand-wound El Primero
4810 movement. Occupying the entire lower right-hand side of the dial, the power-reserve display between 4 and 5 o’clock topped
by the inscriptions “Force constante” and “High frequency”, gives an immediate indication of the movement’s high quality. To its
left, the small seconds subdial between 7 and 8 o’clock bears the logo of the Manufacture with the guiding star.
But the feature that immediately catches the eye and will strike connoisseurs is the upper dial opening revealing the fusée
and chain transmission, with the barrel between 10 and 11 o’clock and the fusée around which the chain wraps itself located
between 1 and 2 o’clock. While the movement takes more than 50 hours to unwind, meaning for the chain to coil around
the barrel, a few seconds of winding via the stem are enough to see the fusée and barrel turning counter-clockwise to the
running direction in order for the chain to once again wrap around the fusée. Two bridges screwed to the mainplate support
the arbors of the fusée and barrel, giving the watch the look of a late 19th century architectural accomplishment. The barrel
is engraved with the inscriptions Zenith/Manufacture Le Locle.
The finest talents of the Manufacture were enlisted in achieving this masterpiece logically issued on this exceptional occasion in a 150-piece limited edition. The incredible technical sophistication of the Academy Georges Favre-Jacot is teamed
with an equally refined aesthetic approach to its exterior, combining modern lines with perfect proportions, while evoking
the brand’s glorious past. The 18-carat rose gold case, along with the brown alligator leather strap, undoubtedly contribute
to its noble bearing. The slender bezel rims a grained silver-toned dial crafted according to the finest watchmaking traditions. The hours and minutes hands are blued, while the seven hour-markers are gold-plated and facetted.
Daring, today as in yesteryear
150 years of creations infused with a sense of daring and an enterprising spirit deserve a celebration! 2015 will be a festive
year brimming with events that will be announced in due course. Watch this space…
MOVEMENT
El Primero 4810, hand-wound
Calibre: 16½ ‘‘‘ (diameter: 37 mm)
Thickness: 5.90 mm
Parts: 222 (+ 575 for the fusée and chain system)
Jewels: 30
Frequency: 36,000 vph (5 Hz)
Power reserve: 50 hours minimum
FUNCTIONS
Hours and minutes
Fusée and chain transmission linked to the barrel
Small seconds between 7 and 8 o’clock
Power reserve between 4 and 5 o’clock
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CASE, DIAL AND HANDS
Material: 18-carat rose gold
Diameter: 45 mm
Thickness: 14.35 mm
Glass: cambered sapphire crystal glareproofed
on both sides
Water resistance: 3 ATM
Dial: grained silver-toned
Hour-markers: gold-plated rhodium, facetted
Hands: blued
STRAP AND CLASP
Brown alligator leather with protective rubber lining
Triple-blade folding clasp in 18-carat rose gold
ZENITH | Swiss Watch Manufacture Since 1865
Maud Tiberti | Rue des Billodes 34-36 | CH-2400 Le Locle | Tel.: +41 32 930 65 84
Email: maud.tiberti@zenith-watches.com | www.zenith-watches.com
Founded in Le Locle in 1865 by a visionary watchmaker, Georges Favre-Jacot, the Manufacture Zenith earned swift recognition for the precision of its chronometers with which it has won 2,333 chronometry prizes in a century and a half of existence:
an absolute record in terms of pocket watches, onboard timers and wristwatches. Having earned fame thanks to its legendary El Primero calibre – an integrated automatic column-wheel chronograph movement launched in 1969 and endowed with a
high frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour that ensures short-time measurements accurate to the nearest 1/10th of a second – the Manufacture Zenith has since developed over 600 movement variations. This Manufacture currently stands at the exact spot where its founder built the first company workshop, thereby physically embodying a continuity that is a rarity in itself.