Table of serial numbers of Zenith watch movements and their corresponding years of manufacture:
Zenith began sequentially numbering its watch movements as early as the end of the 19th century .
The movement number is usually located under the balance cock or on the main plate ; it is usually different from the case number .
Serial numbers & years of manufacture (rough table)
| Serial number (approximately) | Year of manufacture | remark |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000,000 – 1,800,000 | ca. 1890–1900 | Early period, pocket watches, caliber 18-28 |
| 1,800,000 – 2,400,000 | 1900–1910 | Innovation through Georges Favre-Jacot, first precision series |
| 2,400,000 – 3,200,000 | 1910–1918 | First wristwatches, in-house movements |
| 3,200,000 – 4,200,000 | 1918–1925 | War and post-war production |
| 4,200,000 – 5,200,000 | 1925–1935 | Art Deco style, dials often with luminous numerals |
| 5,200,000 – 6,000,000 | 1935–1942 | Precision movements, caliber 126-136 |
| 6,000,000 – 7,000,000 | 1942–1950 | Transition to steel housings, early attempts at automation |
| 7,000,000 – 8,000,000 | 1950–1958 | Calibers 120, 132, 133; early chronometers |
| 8,000,000 – 9,000,000 | 1958–1962 | Caliber 2522, 2542; early automatic wristwatches |
| 9,000,000 – 10,000,000 | 1962–1967 | Caliber 2572, 2521; sporty cases |
| 10,000,000 – 11,000,000 | 1967–1972 | Caliber 3019PHC — El Primero (1969!) |
| 11,000,000 – 12,000,000 | 1972–1980 | Late mechanical movements, first quartz watches |
| 12,000,000+ | 1980–present | Modern Zeniths (e.g. Chronomaster, El Primero Revival) |
The serial number is located on the movement of each watch.
Table 1:
Table 2:
Some Zenith watches/chronographs by year of manufacture:
1925 single-pusher chronograph with internal telemeter scale
1960 Chronometer "Cal. 135" with indirect seconds
1965 Chronograph with 30-minute and 12-hour counters, 3 subdials
1969 Chronograph "El Primero"
1969/2013 Chronograph El Primero 36,000 VPH
2008 Defy Xtreme Chronograph
2008 Defy Xtreme Tourbillon Zero-G - gimbal-mounted tourbillon cage
2013 Captain Windsor caliber 4054
2013 Heritage Ultra Thin Caliber 681 Elite, 3.5mm height
2014 Pilot Doublematic, alarm function, world time synchronization via crown
2014 Captain Power Reserve, 50-hour power reserve
2014 El Primero Chronomaster "Tribute to Charles Vermot", partially open dial
2014 El Primero Lightweight - composite aluminum / titanium case
With the company's conversion into a public limited company in 1911 , the Zenith brand was created. In the same year, Favre-Jacot retired and handed over the management of the company to James Favre . James Favre revived the old traditions, which undoubtedly included the "neuchâteloises" (new châteaux clocks). The new pendulum clocks were equipped with an 8-day striking mechanism and, upon request, also featured a quarter-hour repeater . He founded another company in Besançon, France, in 1923 and a further branch in New York in 1926 .
After the First World War, Zenith began developing and manufacturing wristwatches , including models with alarms and chronographs . For its chronographs, Zenith used movements from Valjoux , Excelsior Park , and, from 1960 onwards, from Martel Watch Co. , which Zenith had acquired. In May 1929, the Astronomical Observatory in England announced that, out of 19,835 watches from around the world, a Zenith had set a new record with a daily deviation of 0.6 seconds.
The legendary work 'El Primero'
In 1948, Zenith introduced the precision caliber 135, which was successful in many chronometer competitions.
In 1969, the first automatic wristwatch chronograph, " El Primero, " developed in collaboration with Movado, was released. Mondia and Movado were integrated into the company, resulting in the holding company "Mondia-Zenith-Movado."
The development of the automatic chronograph movement ' El Primero ' (Italian for 'the first') had already begun in 1967. Not only was it the world's first automatic chronograph movement , but it also oscillated at 36,000 vibrations per hour. Presented on January 10 , 1969 , 'El Primero' beat out the competing development by a consortium of Breitling , Heuer-Leonidas , Hamilton / Büren, and Dubois Dépraz , who only presented their product, named Caliber 11 " Chronomatic ", on March 3, 1969 .
Unlike the "Chronomatic", the ' El Primero ' is still produced with great success today and remains one of the highest quality chronograph movements, highly valued by connoisseurs.
A checkered history in the 70s and 80s
In 1971, the American Zenith Radio Corporation of Chicago, America's largest manufacturer of electronic components, acquired a majority stake in the company. This was likely also to eliminate any potential problems the Americans feared due to the name similarity. Zenith was to serve as a distribution base for quartz movements manufactured in the USA.
The forward-thinking Americans soon lost interest in the mechanical movements and in 1978 ordered production to cease and all movements , components, and machinery to be destroyed. It is thanks to the head of the chronograph workshop, Charles Vermot, that the 'El Primero' was preserved for posterity. He defied the order and hid large quantities of movements, tools, machinery, and all design and manufacturing drawings in the attic of the factory.
Source: Herbert James "The Most Successful Wristwatches", WatchWiki, AI
