The exhibition also features the first Zenith tourbillon model: a 1920 pocket watch with a beautifully finished movement equipped with a Guillaume tourbillon and clearly visible through the back.

Visitors will also be able to admire the brand’s first GMT model. In 1955, the Zenith military type hand-wound chronograph asserted its pioneering spirit by providing a so-called world-time function enabling the owner to tell the time around the globe at a glance. Equipped with a chronograph function complete with sweep seconds hand and a 45-minute counter at 3 o’clock, the watch displays the small seconds at 9 o’clock. The cities of the world symbolising its time zones surround a chapter ring swept over by vintage-style hands.

The unmistakable star of the exhibition is the first El Primero wristwatch, Calibre 3019 PHC, a model dating from 1969, the year the collection was launched. As a front-runner in the field of high frequency, Zenith made its mark on watchmaking history by presenting the first fully integrated chronograph automatic winding movement in 1969.

Establishing itself as the world’s most accurate series-made mechanical calibre, beating a frequency of 10 vibrations per second to measure 1/10ths of a second, it gave rise to the legendary El Primero chronograph. Moreover, this unprecedented mechanical feat was not the only distinguishing feature of the chronograph introduced over 40 years ago by the Manufacture Zenith. In 1969, at a time when monochrome dials were the prevailing trend, El Primero model also stood out for its multi-hued dial bearing three counters in different colours and a red chronograph sweep seconds hand for enhanced readability.

Source: Zenith