I saw a watch recently where the seller was offering a Zenith that was produced in Besançon.

Their claim was that all the Zenith watches without "Swiss" on movement, case, dial, and with 6 characters (instead 7) are produced in Besançon.

Is this correct? Asking for my reference.

 

I believe so. Zenith shipped the parts there to be assembled to avoid higher import duties. A lot of caliber 106.

 

That's correct. Most (but not all) Besançon Zeniths do not mention country of origin, and the numbers follow a different series. There is an informative post over at this blog: https://orologivintage.blogspot.hk/2018/03/zenith-besancon-ovvero-gli-zenith-made.html

 

Correct. This is mine

 

Thanks all for your input, good to know. As always, beautiful watches .

 

As already said, it is correct. I will add that Besançon's archives have been lost, so not easy to date the movement (and the watch) with the serial number!