The LVMH-owned manufacture in Le Locle plans to eliminate close to half the positions at its factory and shrink its distribution network ahead of a relaunch planned for 2029.
Georges Favre-Jacot founded Zenith in Le Locle, in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel, in 1865. In the 1950s the brand entered the chronometry competitions held by the observatories of Neuchâtel, Geneva, Kew-Teddington and Besançon, where its calibre 135-O won 235 prizes. In 1969, the year the first automatic chronographs arrived, it introduced the El Primero calibre, which runs at 36,000 vibrations per hour and measures tenths of a second. LVMH bought the manufacture in 1999.
The consultation in Le Locle
Benoit de Clerck, Zenith's CEO since January 2024, presented a restructuring plan to staff on Thursday, October 22. That day the company confirmed to the Swiss news agency AWP that it had opened a consultation with employees, the step that must precede a collective dismissal. According to a company source quoted by AWP, the plan affects about 100 of the 196 positions at the manufacture and another 101 in the international distribution network.
The consultation runs for three weeks, and Zenith will share no further details until it ends. Staff representatives have until November 12 to submit proposals, and management expects to respond around November 16, according to the Swiss outlet We Love Watches, so the final number of redundancies will be known only after that. The Unia trade union called a meeting with management, and another with staff, for Monday, October 26.
Why the brand is cutting back
According to Le Temps and AWP, De Clerck told employees that Zenith is going through a very difficult period in the mid-priced segment. He blamed the strong Swiss franc, US tariffs and falling demand in the Middle East and Asia, and described those changes as lasting. The source quoted by AWP added that, apart from the post-pandemic rebound, the brand has been losing money for years and that its production and sales structure was built for higher volumes than it now has. LVMH does not report results by brand. Morgan Stanley estimates cited by Business of Fashion put Zenith's sales at 138 million Swiss francs in 2023 and 98 million in 2025, a drop of about 29% in two years; in 2025 the brand made around 8,500 watches.
Fewer watches at higher prices
Under the plan, Zenith will make fewer watches, sell them at higher prices and relaunch in 2029 as a haute horlogerie brand within LVMH, which has denied any plan to sell it. According to Business of Fashion, most current collections will be discontinued in the short term and retail sales will close during the transition; Zenith has not said which references will leave the catalogue.
The same outlet says after-sales service will continue. Movement production for other group brands, such as Hublot, will also go on; De Clerck says that business has a full order book.
Retailers and service in Mexico, Spain and South America
Zenith's store locator lists twelve points of sale in Mexico, among them Berger Joyeros and Peyrelongue on Masaryk avenue in Mexico City, EMWA in Perisur, Satélite and Monterrey, Salvador Vergara in Guadalajara and Ultrajewels in Cancún and Playa del Carmen. Spain has fourteen, most of them belonging to the Rabat chain, plus a service centre in Madrid; Argentina has two stores in Buenos Aires and Chile one in Santiago. The brand has not said which points of sale will close or in which countries.
The calibre 135 as a model
Revolution points to the G.F.J., which Zenith unveiled at Watches and Wonders 2025 for its 160th anniversary, as an example of the new direction. It carries Georges Favre-Jacot's initials and revives, in a watch made in small numbers, the calibre 135 that Ephrem Jobin designed for the observatory trials and that Zenith produced from 1949 to 1962.
Zenith has not said what will happen to the Chronomaster, the collection that keeps the 1969 El Primero calibre in production.
