It is incredibly difficult to create a simple watch.
On the occasion of its 160th anniversary, Zenith reached back across eight decades to resurrect the Calibre 135—a movement that once conquered the world's most demanding chronometry competitions—not as an act of nostalgia, but as a declaration of new ambition. The Swiss manufacture has reimagined this dormant legend for a contemporary high-horology collection, the GFJ, positioning itself in the contested space between industrial watchmaking and the rarefied world of independent artisans. In doing so, Zenith asks a question that runs through all craft traditions: can a storied institution reinvent its relationship with excellence without losing what made it matter in the first place?
- After twenty-five years defined almost entirely by the El Primero chronograph, Zenith risked its identity by staking its anniversary on a time-only movement most collectors had never seen running.
- Rebuilding the Calibre 135 from scratch demanded tolerances and finishing standards the brand had never consistently achieved—forcing Zenith to retrain its artisans and bring previously outsourced skills in-house.
- Priced at CHF48,900, the GFJ collection leaps nearly eight times above the Elite line it replaces, betting that collectors frustrated by independent watchmakers' waiting lists will find Zenith a credible alternative.
- Production is deliberately capped at 300 pieces per year, with a complication arriving every two years and two exclusive independent-watchmaker collaborations annually—scarcity engineered as a statement of seriousness.
- The strategy is landing as a rare institutional gamble: Zenith is positioning itself not against independent watchmakers but alongside them, offering its manufacture scale as a platform rather than a rival.
Zenith spent a quarter-century synonymous with the El Primero, the high-frequency chronograph that defined the brand after 1969. But for its 160th anniversary, the Swiss manufacture made a quieter, more surprising choice: it revived the Calibre 135, a time-only movement dormant for decades, and built an entirely new collection around it. Named the GFJ after founder Georges Favre-Jacot, the collection signaled that Zenith was charting a different course.
The original Calibre 135 was engineered in the late 1940s with a single purpose—to win. Between 1949 and 1962, it accumulated 235 chronometry prizes, one-tenth of all the awards Zenith had ever earned, making it the most decorated movement in the brand's history. Its design was radical: no centre wheel, an oversized Guillaume balance, a low 2.5 Hz beat rate that prized stability over speed. Many Observatory versions carried a double regulator for even finer control.
The path to revival began in 2022, when Zenith partnered with independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen to restore ten original Calibre 135-O movements for auction. Voutilainen had initially declined—until he learned which movement was involved. The project's success convinced Zenith that collectors genuinely cared, and three years later the brand committed to a contemporary version.
This was no simple reproduction. Technical Director David Serra oversaw a complete redesign: 72-hour power reserve, hacking seconds, ±2 seconds daily precision, and the finishing standards that modern high-horology collectors demand. The gear train was reworked, jewels added, the regulating organ redesigned for shock resistance—all while preserving the original's proportions and oversized balance. Even hacking seconds, which would have been heretical in 1940s Observatory competitions, was carefully incorporated as a concession to modern expectations.
Producing the movement transformed Zenith from within. The brand trained its teams to achieve finishing quality it had previously outsourced—Geneva stripes, hand-anglage—studying independent watchmakers to understand the standards it was chasing. Annual production of high-horology pieces grew from roughly fifty to a target of 160.
The GFJ collection itself was positioned deliberately: precious materials, hard stone dials in onyx, lapis lazuli, and bloodstone, and a price of CHF48,900—far above the Elite line it replaced, yet below what an independent watchmaker would charge for a comparable dress watch. Zenith was offering a middle path for collectors caught in the waiting lists surrounding independent brands.
The strategy extended further still. Production is capped at 300 pieces per year, with one new complication planned every two years from 2027. More unusually, Zenith announced two annual collaborations with independent watchmakers—each limited to ten to twenty-five pieces—where the independents would contribute meaningfully to engraving, dials, hands, or movement decoration, not merely lend their names. The ambition was to position Zenith not as a competitor to independent watchmakers but as a platform for them: a manufacture with history, scale, and a movement difficult enough to make the partnership worth having.
Zenith spent the last twenty-five years riding the El Primero, the fast-beating chronograph that became synonymous with the brand after its 1969 debut. But last year, marking the company's 160th anniversary, the Swiss manufacture made an unexpected move: it resurrected the Calibre 135, a time-only movement that had been dormant for decades. The revival arrived not as a nostalgic footnote but as the centerpiece of an entirely new collection called the GFJ, named after founder Georges Favre-Jacot—a signal that Zenith was charting a different course.
The Calibre 135 was born in the late 1940s, a movement engineered for a specific and exacting purpose: to win. Between 1949 and 1962, it accumulated 235 chronometry prizes, a haul that represented one-tenth of all the chronometry awards Zenith had ever earned. That achievement alone made it the most decorated calibre in the brand's history. The movement's design was radical for its time. It dispensed with a centre wheel entirely, freeing space for an oversized balance—a Guillaume balance, the finest regulating organ available in that era—and creating room for the meticulous hand-adjustments that chronometry demanded. It beat at just 2.5 Hz, a low frequency that prioritized stability over speed, and many Observatory versions carried a double regulator for even finer control.
Romain Marietta, Zenith's Chief Product Officer, had been thinking about reviving this movement for years. The original plans had been kept in a drawer, waiting for the right moment and the right tools. That moment arrived in 2022, when Zenith collaborated with independent watchmaker Kari Voutilainen to restore ten original Calibre 135-O movements for auction at Phillips. Voutilainen had initially declined the project, but when Marietta told him which movement was involved, he said yes—a telling measure of the aura surrounding the calibre. The success of that restoration work convinced Zenith that collectors genuinely cared. Three years later, the company committed to presenting a contemporary version for its anniversary.
But this was not a simple heritage reproduction. David Serra, Zenith's Technical Director of Movement Development, oversaw a complete redesign, component by component. The challenge was immense: preserve the original's proportions, architecture, and oversized balance while meeting modern standards that the 1940s never imagined. The new Calibre 135 needed 72 hours of power reserve, hacking seconds, a precision of ±2 seconds per day, and the kind of high-horology finishing that contemporary collectors expected. The teams reworked the entire gear train to optimize energy transmission, added jewels to reduce friction, and redesigned the regulating organ to improve shock resistance while maintaining the balance's historical dimensions and regulating capability. The addition of hacking seconds—a mechanism that would have been heretical in the Observatory competitions of the 1940s, where stopping the balance could disturb rate stability—represented a careful compromise between history and the expectations of modern watch owners.
Producing the movement required Zenith to transform itself from within. The Calibre 135 demanded precision in component manufacturing and assembly tolerances that the brand had rarely achieved on a simple three-hand watch. The finishing alone represented a strategic leap. Zenith brought in artisans and trained its teams to develop what Marietta called "a different eye for finishing quality," studying pieces made by independent watchmakers to understand the standards they were chasing. The company now performs Geneva stripes and hand-anglage in-house, capabilities it had previously outsourced. Where Zenith had produced at most fifty high-horology pieces per year, it now aimed to produce 160 pieces of the Calibre 135 annually.
The GFJ collection itself marked a departure. Rather than launching the movement in steel—a choice that would have felt incongruous—Zenith positioned it within an exclusive high-horology context, using precious materials like platinum, lapis lazuli, tantalum, onyx, yellow gold, and bloodstone. The hard stone dials became a signature, particularly the combination of onyx and mother-of-pearl, which Marietta noted created a visual identity no competitor had claimed. Priced at CHF48,900, the GFJ sat far above the Elite collection it replaced, which had retailed around CHF6,000. Yet it remained below what an independent watchmaker would charge for a comparable three-hand dress watch—positioning Zenith as a middle path for collectors caught in the waiting lists that surrounded independent brands.
The strategy extended beyond the movement itself. Zenith committed to limiting production to no more than 300 pieces per year for the next three to four years, with plans to introduce one complication every two years beginning in 2027. More intriguingly, the company announced a program of exclusive collaborations with independent watchmakers—two per year, each limited to between ten and twenty-five pieces. These would not be simple co-signatures. The independent watchmakers would contribute meaningfully, whether through engraving, dial design, hand-making, or movement decoration. The first collaboration, unveiled in June, involved a watchmaker contributing custom hands. The second would touch both dial and movement. Marietta was explicit: the partnerships would only proceed where they made genuine sense, where the independent maker could truly add something rather than simply lend their name.
In this way, Zenith was attempting something unusual in the luxury watch industry: positioning itself not as a competitor to independent watchmakers but as a platform for them. The manufacture could produce 160 pieces of a model where an independent might produce ten per year, offering collectors an alternative with its own aesthetic, calibre, and history. For the independents themselves, the collaboration offered something rare—the chance to work outside their signature model, to create something new, and to gain visibility within a manufacture's distribution network. Marietta called it a win-win situation, and the Calibre 135, with all its history and difficulty, was the vehicle that made it possible.
Citações Notáveis
For us, the cal. 135 already fulfils that role of contemporary champion. It was one in its own era, and today we are again trying to make it the champion of its category.— Romain Marietta, Chief Product Officer, Zenith
We offer a very interesting alternative, with a different approach—our own aesthetic, calibre and history. This approach also allows independents to express themselves in another context.— Romain Marietta
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
Why revive a movement from the 1940s when you could design something entirely new?
Because the Calibre 135 already proved itself in its own era—it won more chronometry prizes than any other movement Zenith ever made. That history isn't just marketing. It's a foundation. And reviving it lets us tell a story about a part of our heritage that collectors didn't know existed.
But doesn't reviving something old limit what you can do with it?
That's the tension we had to navigate. We completely redesigned the movement—new gear train, new energy management, new finishing standards. But we kept the proportions, the oversized balance, the architecture. It's not a copy. It's a conversation between what was and what's possible now.
The precision spec is ±2 seconds per day. That's tighter than the El Primero. Why does that matter?
It matters because it shows we can excel in different registers. The El Primero is a fast-beating chronograph. The Calibre 135 is a slow, stable regulator. They're complementary. Together they demonstrate the full range of what a manufacture can do.
You're collaborating with independent watchmakers. Aren't they your competitors?
Not really. They're confined by their own success—they can only make ten pieces a year of their signature model. We can make 160 of ours. By collaborating, we give them a chance to create something different, to reach collectors they wouldn't reach alone. And we get to learn from them.
At CHF48,900, the GFJ is expensive. Who's buying it?
People who want a dress watch with real history and real finishing, but who are tired of waiting lists for independent brands. We're offering legitimacy and scale. You get a movement that won 235 prizes, made by a manufacture with 160 years of history, at a price that's still below what an independent would charge for something comparable.
What happens next? Is this just a one-off collection?
No. We're planning complications—one every two years. We're expanding the collaborations. The Calibre 135 is only at the beginning of its development. We're treating it like a platform, not a monument.