REVOLUTION_International_Vol 54

THE
ABSOLUTE
ZENITH
OF
MANUFACTURE
TOURS
The Zenith manufacture in Le Locle is
a must-visit for watch enthusiasts, not
just for its latest updated facilities, but
alsobecauseitoffersararechancefor
one to experience a moment in time
that rewrote the brand’s history.
WORDS ADAM CRANIOTES
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting a Swiss watch
manufacture, then it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking
that if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all. There’s
the stamping area, redolent with the peculiar bouquet
of machine oil, where billets of metal wait patiently to be
pounded and flattened into springs and gears; the assembly
floor, where dozens of watchmakers hunch over benches,
meticulously building going trains, or mating hands to
pinions; and then there’s the haute horlogerie section,
where the masters of the craft while away their hours
building minute repeaters and tourbillons, or, perhaps,
painstakingly hand-enameling dials.
And then — boom — you’re done.
(It should also be noted that more often than not the
building that houses this time-honored mechanical sorcery
is a contemporary, carbon-neutral affair that proudly takes
advantage of the latest technology that modern architecture
has to offer.)
Now to be clear, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with
any of the above. Watches are watches, after all, and with
few exceptions, their assembly follows certain rhythms
prescribed over generations upon generations of trial
and error that all lead to the formula that we see over and
over again. And why not trade up to newer digs? That’s
progress after all, right? Right. It’s just that some do it more
convincingly than others, and as such, are simply that much
more genuine. Zenith is one such manufacture.
68 THE MODERNIST