Zeno-Watch is a Swiss watchmaker established in 1868, though the Zeno name has been in use only since 1922. They are an entry-level Swiss brand, using an ETA movement for their mechanical watches. Specializing in

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' include fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air aircraft such as h ...

watches, they are one of the few independent Swiss watch manufacturers still in operation. Their factory is based in

Basel, Switzerland Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city (after Zurich and Geneva), with ...

History

Beginnings

Zeno's history began in 1868 with watchmaker Jules Godat, the founder of a small

pocket watch A pocket watch 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 wristwatches became popula ...

manufacturing company (Godat & Co.) in

La Chaux-de-Fonds La Chaux-de-Fonds (; archaic ) is a Swiss city in the canton of Neuchâtel. It is located in the Jura Mountains at an altitude of 992 metres, a few kilometres south of the French border. After Geneva, Lausanne, Biel/Bienne, and Fribourg, ...

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

es featuring solid silver cases and lady pendant watches in very small quantities. He built a small factory, which was taken over in 1920 by A. Eigeldinger & Fils. Eigeldinger specialized in creating wrist watches for the army. They produced watches in

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

, silver, gold and platinum, with mechanical movements up to 43 mm. Their registered brands were ''Zeno'', ''Strand'' and ''Solvex''. In 1922 André-Charles Eigeldinger, the son of the owner, registered the watch brand ZENO. The name (short form of Zenodopolus) goes back to the two Greek philosophers Zeno and means “gift of Zeus” or “divine gift”.https://www.watch-wiki.net/doku.php?id=zeno#dokuwiki__content

The first Zeno watches

The first Zeno watches were made in 1922 with each piece marked with a Swiss cross on the back of the casing. In 1949, Zeno watches were exhibited for the first time at the Swiss Watch Fair in Basel. In 1966, Dr. Peter Atteslander 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 attention in 1969 with the futuristic "Spacemen" model and 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.". Around that time they took over several well-known Swiss watch factories.

Current products

The best-known watches produced by Zeno are in the "Pilot Classic" collection. Today's model is similar to the Zeno Pilot Basic 1965 original. The range includes mechanical watches, quartz technology wrist watches with analog displays, collectors' wristwatches, pocket watches and sport chronographs in various materials. Since 1999, Zeno has expanded its

Pilot watch A watch is a timepiece carried or worn by a person. It is designed to maintain a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or another type of br ...

family of products. They have produced a range of pilot watches in new sizes, together with

COSC The Contrôle officiel suisse des Chronomètres (COSC), the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, is the institute responsible for certifying the accuracy and precision of Swiss watches. Background Founded in its current form in 1973, t ...

certificated chronometers. Zeno also makes diving watches used by the

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

for their

frogmen A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater. The term often applies more to professional rather than recreational divers, especially those working in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some Europea ...

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