Zenith SA was originally started in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot in Le Locle, Switzerland as George Farve-Jacot & Co. Inspired by the success of other companies selling reliable and affordable watches through mass production, Favre-Jacot became the first manufacturer to build in-house movements. His “Zenith” movement won the Grand Prix at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair, and in 1911 the company was renamed after the award-winning movement. Zenith purchased movement maker Martel in 1959 and began work on an automatic chronograph movement, and a decade later the El Primero movement was born.
Zenith would later merge with Movado and Mondia to become Movado-Zenith-Mondia Holding Horloger SA, which in 1972 would be acquired by the company that had previously compromised Zenith’s market share due to naming disputes, the Zenith Radio Company. The quartz crisis led to further struggles and another acquisition until Ebel and Rolex began sourcing the El Primero movement for their chronographs. Zenith has been owned by LVMH since 1999 along with stablemates Hublot and TAG Heuer.
Custom Ferrari Timepieces
In the 1950’s, Scuderia Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari began making small batch orders of Ferrari-branded watches almost exclusively through Bolognese jeweler Gerardo Veronesi. Several watch brands were involved in these early commissions including Longines, Vetta, and Zenith. These rare watches were Enzo’s gifts to drivers, colleagues, and VIPs in appreciation of their loyalty to the Italian legend. One notable example was a Scuderia Ferrari-branded Zenith Chronograph that Enzo had gifted to Dorino Serafini (who was previously a Grand Prix motorcycle racer), who had surrendered his car to Alberto Ascari at the 1950 Italian Grand Prix in what turned out to be Serafini’s only Formula One start.
References
https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=Movado-Zenith-Mondia
https://www.autoweek.com/car-life/a1973631/prancing-horses-and-sweeping-hands-history-ferrari-watch/
https://grail-watch.com/2014/05/27/1950-zenith-scuderia-ferrari-chronograph/
https://www.mywatchmart.com/listing/269371-fs-zenith-scuderia-ferrari-chronograph-from-1950-gift-from-enzo-ferrari/