GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE
STAR 33 MM: A SINGULARLY FEMININE MODEL
ZENITH AND ART NOUVEAU As is often the case in the art world, any new movement stems from a reaction to the previous one. Born in the early 1890s, Art Nouveau is no exception to this rule. Inspired by fauna, flora and feminine sensuality, interpreted across all art forms and beautifully expressed in curves, arabesques and scrolling patterns, Art Nouveau rejected the prevailing strictly academic approach to art, along with established conventions and the rigidity of straight lines. It enjoyed unprecedented Europeanwide development and was given various names according to the country: Arts and Crafts (England), Jugendstil (Germany), Sezessionstil (Austraia), Stile Liberty (Italy), Tiffany (United States), Modernismo (Spain) and Style Sapin (Switzerland), as well as some less complementary nicknames. Whatever the period, Zenith is a Manufacture resolutely in touch with its times. Keenly sensitive to this artistic movement and the delicate nature of its motifs, Georges Favre-Jacot worked with some of its exponents as soon as it emerged, as much for his watch models as for his advertising and brand image. Such collaborations included those with Czech artist Alfons Mucha for painting and engraving, as well as Frenchman René Lalique for glassware and jewellery, and Alphonse Laverrière of Switzerland for architecture and graphic design. Mucha signed off the engraving of a Zenith pocket watch presented at the 1900 Universal Exhibition in Paris and presented in four variations on the theme of the four seasons. Lalique created a Bakelite pocket watch and Laverrière, in response to a request from Georges Favre-Jacot who was keen to ensure the consistency of the brand image, created the graphic design concept of the boutiques and of Zenith advertising, as well as designed the workshop in Le Sentier. The founder of the company also worked with internationally renowned artisans who were passionate about Art Nouveau, such as Pierre Frainier and the Frères Huguenin, who produced the cases for the Four Seasons models.
ZENITH AND WOMEN From a very early stage, the visionary founder of Zenith expressed his love of women through watches, to the point of producing more models for women than for men at one point in the brand’s history. The Manufacture’s customers included eminent figures, such as the poetess and novelist Countess Anna de Noailles, a friend of the intellectual, literary and artistic elite of the era. This exceptional woman was also the first to receive the Legion of Honour, among other accolades. Since 1865, nothing has succeeding in slowing the dynamic momentum maintained by Zenith. Quite logically, the spirit cultivated by the House has ensured that models intended for women are also imbued with a blend of daring and authenticity: from the pocket watches of the early decades through pendant jewellery watches to complicated contemporary wristwatches, ladies’ watches as envisioned by Zenith are an anthem to femininity, an enduring love story regularly nurtured by new “declarations of passion” in the form of timeless watches admirably epitomised by the Star collection.
In 1910, Georges Favre-Jacot dreamt of creating a crystal pocket watch, but this implied a double challenge: protecting the watch from shocks and also avoiding revealing the movement beneath the crystal. The French jeweller and master glassmaker René Lalique responded to the original request with an original solution. Fascinated by amber, he decided to work with a resinbased translucent material that could be sculpted and moulded and which looked like a cross between frosted crystal and amber, without their fragility. This also afforded a double advantage, in that the material thus achieved made it possible to create smallsized objects and could easily be given a homogenous colour. The master glassmaker designed his watch case around the theme of a draped woman. The result lived up to the hopes invested in it by Georges Favre-Jacot: a pocket watch featuring a metal
case coated in translucent Bakelite and portraying 12 dancers in varying poses like the 12 hours of the dial, and covered with a beautifully draped light fabric. The dial bearing the Zenith signature is adorned with 11 black Arabic numerals, gilt studs for the minutes, extremely slender hands and small seconds at 6 o’clock. The success of the watch was such that several series were made all the way through to the 1920s.
> ART DECO TOO… Born in the 1910s, Art Deco is an artistic movement that reached its height during the following decade and then steadily declined in the 1930s. Named after the Exposition international des Arts décoratifs et industriels held in Paris in 1925, it was the first international movement to encompass both architecture and decoration. This extremely slim 1926 ladies’ wristwatch is crafted in this spirit which, contrary to Art Nouveau, favoured straight lines and exalted rigorous geometry. The back of the hexagonal platinum case is engraved with small stylised floral motifs in each angle and the platinum bracelet is as supple as fabric thanks to the ‘Milanese mesh’ metal-weaving technique. The bezel, the sides of the case, the bracelet attachments and the clasp are all set with diamonds. The Zenith mechanical manual-winding movement beats at the frequency of 18,000 vibrations per hour. The silvertoned dial bearing the Zenith signature displays black hands and twelve Arabic numerals. Zenith was once again a pioneer, since this model already appeared in its 1924 catalogue.
Equipped with a cushion-shaped case that is the signature of the collection and provides an elegant setting for the delicate mechanism, the Star 33 mm exudes the charm of watches capable of mingling seductive appeal with horological excellence. Classic in shape and timeless in style, it notably comes in two models radiating a personality that is bound to attract women looking for timepieces reflecting their own nature: the Star 33 mm models. The 18-carat white gold case is just 9.45 mm thick, but houses a movement boasting impeccable precision and reliability: the automatic Elite 681 calibre. Measuring a mere 3.47 mm thick, it beats at the frequency of 4 Hz and offers a more than 50-hour power reserve along with 30-metre water resistance. Its gear wheels and oscillating weight are adorned with a Côtes de Genève motif and revealed through the transparent sapphire case-back. On the dial side, the finest artisans have worked on paying tribute to femininity, including by staging a visual surprise: a flower surrounded by blue leaves for the first model; an ochre, orange and red flower for the second in which the centre is not the axis around which the facetted hours and minutes hands turn, but instead that of the small seconds at 9 o’clock. These two models also feature a bezel set with 28 strategically placed brilliant-cut diamonds between 1 and 2 o’clock, 4 and 5 o’clock, 7 and 8 o’clock, and 10 and 11 o’clock. Fitted on textured silk straps of which one is patterned, both models are equipped with a cabochon-topped crown.
E H T ND RT A E A C G N N A AKI G E EL CHM WAT
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STAR 33 MM