Swiss watchmaking company Zenith celebrated its 150th anniversary in style by teaming up with its retail partner in Dubai, Rivoli Group, to reopen its boutique at The Dubai Mall.

The boutique boasts the same aesthetic elements as other Zenith boutiques worldwide, said Zenith’s president and chief executive Aldo Magada, who was joined by Ramesh Prabhakar, the managing partner of Rivoli Group and Friend of the Brand, renowned cosmetic dentist Dr Majd Naji.

The concept store is far more than just a boutique, it’s a whole universe featuring an interior design that draws visitors into a temple of Swiss watchmaking tradition, the Manufacture Zenith.

Founded in Le Locle in 1865 by a visionary watchmaker, Georges Favre-Jacot, the Manufacture Zenith gained swift recognition for the precision of its chronometers, with which it has won 2,333 chronometry prizes in a century and a half of existence: an absolute record in terms of pocket watches, onboard timers and wristwatches.

Having earned fame thanks to its legendary El Primero calibre – an integrated automatic column-wheel chronograph movement launched in 1969 and endowed with a high frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour that ensures short-time measurements accurate to the nearest 1/10 th of a second – the Manufacture Zenith has since developed over 600 movement variations.

Visitors get to discover the Zenith universe, replete with novelties and traditional pieces from the brand’s collections.

Guests at the inauguration also got the opportunity to view an iconic timepiece from the brand: the El Primero Sport. The model asserts a resolutely masculine personality accentuated by the generous size of its 45 mm diameter steel case and the eminently sporty nature of its functions.

Its distinctive character reflects the very essence of sports watches and naturally makes it part of a proud lineage of timeless models.

Powered by El Primero 400 B calibre, a chronograph movement featuring an integrated column-wheel construction that beats at a rate of 36,000 vibrations per hour, the new El Primero Sport model has inherited the DNA of the famous 1969 El Primero chronograph, of which it is without doubt an eminently worthy descendant.

Interpreted through three classically sophisticated variations, this timepiece is a worthy heir to the grand tradition of sports chronographs.

All possessing a Manufacture movement, Zenith watches are entirely developed and produced at Le Locle. This Manufacture currently stands at the exact spot where its founder built the first company workshop, thereby physically embodying a continuity that is a rarity in itself.