![]() The company also cites the undeniable parallels between the world of classic cars and high-end mechanical timekeepers, both of which are “often produced individually and by hand, while their maintenance also requires extreme attention and meticulous care.” To kick off the first year of Zenith’s partnership with Tour Auto (a role in which it had been preceded by several other luxury watch brands, including its sister company in the the LVMH luxury group, Hublot), two gentlemen associated with Zenith got suited up to take part in this year’s rally, which launched on May 21 from Paris’s architecturally breathtaking Grand Palais and included 223 vintage sports cars dating from 1951 to 1979. Zenith’s connection to the world of auto racing - and France - began in 1955, when Maurice Trintignant became the first French Formula One driver to win the prestigious Grand Prix de Monaco. And of course, there is the fascinating story of the El Primero - the legendary chronograph movement that rocked the watch world in the seminal year of 1969 - and that movement’s subsequent rescue from quartz-crisis-mandated oblivion in the 1970s by an insubordinate employee (who in modern times has been honored with his own limited-edition Zenith watch more on the story and the watch here.)Īs official timekeeper, Zenith’s branding was evident on all the Tour Auto cars. The watch company he founded, which he named Zenith in 1911, holds the record for chronometer prizes awarded in the Swiss observatory competitions. Its founder Favre-Jacot, at the tender age of 22, was the first watch entrepreneur to bring all the stages of watch production under one roof, a revolutionary concept in an era when these artisans were customarily scattered across a large area. Watch aficionados and watch historians are undoubtedly familiar with some of these. ![]() Zenith, founded in Le Locle, Switzerland in 1865 by George Favre-Jacot, commemorates its 150th anniversary this year, and the sponsorship of the Tour Auto, one of the most important events on the international classic-car-racing calendar, is but one of a number of initiatives the brand has taken to increase awareness of its many milestones and accomplishments. ![]() Scroll down for more on the event and the limited-edition watch. Last week, I had the opportunity to join Zenith in Paris for the launch of the 2015 Tour Auto Optic 2000 classic car rally, which marked both the Swiss brand’s inaugural year as the Tour’s official timekeeper and the debut of the El Primero Chronomaster 1969 Tour Auto Edition timepiece.
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