Last year, I had the privilege of sitting down with Benoit de Clerck to talk about all things Zenith. At the time, Benoit was just a few short months into his tenure as CEO of Zenith, and Watches & Wonders was only barely in the rearview, but de Clerck made it very clear that he was already looking ahead, not just generally, but towards something very specific, and very exciting.
“I’m working hard on something new next year, which — obviously — I like, because it’s very unique, and we’re producing very small quantities and all that. And, I can’t tell you much more, but next year we’re celebrating our 160th year and we will come up with something that the collectors will be very, very, very happy with.”
Well, now, nearly a year later, we know what that “something new” is, and de Clerck was absolutely right — because it is something to be very, very happy with. I’m talking, of course, about the new Zenith G.F.J. G.F.J., in this case, stands for Georges Favre-Jacot, the name of the man who founded Zenith some 160 years ago, but it might as well stand for ‘Great F***ing Job’ because Zenith has knocked it out of the park with this one.
At the heart of the G.F.J. is a revived version of the calibre 135, a historically significant and long-dormant movement, designed by Ephrem Jobin in the years after World War II and produced from 1949 to 1962. The Calibre 135 was widely used by Zenith at that time, but especially prized is the 135-O variant created for observatory trials, which was in 2022 used as the basis for a highly limited collaboration between Zenith, Kari Voutilainen, and Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo. But where that collaboration used sourced vintage movements, the calibre 135 movements found in the new G.F.J. are 100% new.
The new Calibre 135 manual isn’t, to be fair, an exact reproduction of the original movement from the ‘40s and ‘50s, but rather a re-engineered take meant for the 21st century. That is to say that the new 135, while maintaining the architecture and dimensions of the original, incorporates quality-of-life improvements like spring-mounted jewel settings (a subtle but meaningful improvement), hacking seconds, and a 72-hr power reserve up from 40 hrs on the original. The new Calibre 135 is also impeccably decorated, with a “brick” guilloché finish on the plates, polished screws, and plenty of anglage. It’s also, in the spirit of the 135-O, exceedingly accurate, being COSC certified and regulated to within +/- 2 seconds a day.
That “brick” guilloché pattern is also incorporated on the dial side of the watch, where it makes up the outer ring of the dial, filling the space between 18-ct white gold indices and encircling the center of the dial, which is made of lapis lazuli. A mother-of-pearl small seconds counter is set into the dial at 6 o’clock and adds to the overall effect. Blue is obviously the order of the day for Zenith this year, and the G.F.J. takes it to a whole other level. I have yet to see this piece in person, but I’m certainly excited for the opportunity.
All of this is housed in a beautiful 39mm platinum case. The case, which draws inspiration from Zenith watches of the 1950s, is a happy balance between simple and ornate, pairing a stepped case with stepped lugs and a blend of polished and brushed surfaces to create something eye-catching without being distracting. The case itself is svelte, measuring just 10.5mm, including the box sapphire crystal, and compact, at 45.75mm lug-to-lug, and comes with three straps: one in dark blue alligator and two calfskin options in blue and black, respectively. A platinum pin-buckle is also included, which is finished in a brick guilloché pattern matching the dial and movement, and a platinum bracelet is available as an optional (and likely very expensive) extra.
Whether this winds up being a true one-off, or the start of something akin to the L.U.C. line from Chopard remains to be seen, but either way, the Zenith G.F.J. feels like an incredible celebration piece for Zenith. The Zenith G.F.J is available in a limited edition of 160 and is priced accordingly, coming in at $49,900. Zenith
