Zeno-Watch is a Swiss watchmaker established in 1868, but the Zeno name has been in use only since 1922.History of Zeno-Watch Basel - Independent Swiss Watch Manufacturing
Specializing in aviation watches, they are one of the few independent Swiss watch manufacturers still in operation. Their factory is in

Basel, Switzerland , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS), ...

History

Beginnings

Zeno's history begins in 1868 with watchmaker Jules Godat, the founder of a small pocket watch manufacturing company (Godat & Co.) in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds () is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura mountains at an altitude of 1000 m, a few kilometers south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne and Fribourg, it is the fourth largest city l ...

, in the heart of the Swiss watchmaking industry. He produced, in very small quantities, fine

pocket watch A pocket watch (or pocketwatch) is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristw ...

es featuring solid silver cases and lady pendant watches. He built a small factory, which was taken over in 1920 by A. Eigeldinger & Fils. Eigeldinger specialized in

wrist watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

es for the army. They produced watches in stainless steel, silver, gold and platinum, with mechanical movements up to 43mm. Their registered brands were ''Zeno'', ''Strand'' and ''Solvex''. The son of the owner, Andre-Charles Eigeldinger, introduced Zeno. In Greek, the name means "graceful."

The first Zeno watches

The first Zeno watches were made in 1922. Each piece was marked with a Swiss cross on the back of the casing. The company has since continued to innovate watch manufacturing techniques. In 1949, the Zeno watches were exhibited for the first time at the

Swiss Watch Fair Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internationa ...

in Basel. In 1966, Dr.

Peter Atteslander Peter Atteslander (17 March 1926 – 15 January 2016) was a Swiss sociologist. His research fields are industrial sociology, urban sociology, medical sociology and research methods. A recognized expert on the interaction between health and society, ...

and Eric Enggist bought the rights to Zeno and later sold them to Mr. Felix W. Huber in 1973. Mr. Huber had worked for the company since 1964. Zeno's workshops gained international attention in 1969 with the legendary and futuristic "Spacemen" model, the production of the vacuum

diving watch A diving watch, also commonly referred to as a diver's or dive watch, is a watch designed for underwater diving that features, as a minimum, a water resistance greater than , the equivalent of . The typical diver's watch will have a water resis ...

called the "Compressor," and with the takeover of several well-known Swiss watch factories.

Current products

The best known watches produced by Zeno are in the "Pilot Classic" collection. Today's model compares very favorably with the vintage Zeno Pilot Basic 1965 original. The range of products extends from mechanical to quartz technology wrist watches with analogue displays, collectors' wristwatches, pocket watches and sport chronographs in every combination of materials. Zeno has enlarged their Pilot watch family of products. Since 1999 they have produced a large range of pilot watches in new sizes, and many COSC certificated

chronometer A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and th ...

s. Zeno also makes diving watches used by the Swiss Army for their

frogmen A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, comb ...

, with models rated for up to 300 meters (1000 feet) depth.

Notes

External links

Official site

Zeno-Watch Basel (Watch-Wiki)

* ttp://bs.powernet.ch/webservices/inet/HRG/HRG.asmx/getHRGHTML?chnr=2703003337&amt=270&toBeModified=0&validOnly=0&lang=1&sort=0) Commercial register of canton Basel-Stadt {{Authority control Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland Manufacturing companies based in Basel Manufacturing companies established in 1868 Swiss watch brands Swiss companies established in 1868