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What's The Story On The Zenith <-> Favre Leuba Connection?

  1. dsio Ω 2

    dsio Ash @ ΩF Staff Member Apr 20, 2013

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    Just saw this rather expensive piece on ebay:

    http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Fav...654966385?pt=Wristwatches&hash=item48547a9a71Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

    And while I don't know much at all about Fabre Leuba, I've heard the name used in connection with Zenith, as this seller does quite a few times, were they sourcing movements or something from Zenith?
     
  2. LouS Ω 2

    LouS Mrs Nataf's Other Son Staff Member Apr 20, 2013

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    In the case of the piece on ebay, there is no connection at all - completely imagined by the seller.

    Here is my impression formed over the years: Favre-Leuba was a watch company that also functioned as a retailer in certain countries, notably India. In their retailer capacity, they also apparently carried Zeniths, which are co-branded Favre-Leuba. Zeniths so branded are - best that I can tell - entirely Zeniths, stock products from the factory in LeLocle. Favre-Leuba also made its own watches, which have nothing to do with Zenith.

    The best modern example is probably something like Tiffany. You can get a Tiffany watch, which is made with a movement sourced from some supplier and assembled who knows where, but you can also get a Rolex or a Patek with Tiffany on the dial, that is a 100% Rolex or Patek product but for the addition to the dial. The difference of course is that Tiffany is mainly a retailer, and Favre-Leuba was mainly a watch company.
     
  3. woodwkr2

    woodwkr2 Apr 20, 2013

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    I believe that it was one of the leading retailers in Cuba as well.
     
  4. John Chris

    John Chris Il Duca de Luca Apr 20, 2013

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    And, as far as I can tell, Zenith had nothing to do with the watch on offer on eBay. F-L and Zenith came together most notably in the selling of the cal. 135, many of which were double-branded and marketed by F-L. But the name Zenith was always on the dial and on the movement. They always looked the same as the pure Zenith, but with the addition of Favre-Leuba on the dial. This eBay offer is marked only Favre-Leuba on both dial and movement and corresponds to no known Zenith model as far as I can tell.
     
  5. John Chris

    John Chris Il Duca de Luca Apr 22, 2013

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    Copied from another post I made on this watch:

    It may be a decent watch for all I know, but it has nothing to do with Zenith. When I asked the seller on what he based his claim that this was a "Favre-Leuba by Zenith", he responded that Favre-Leuba was to Zenith as Tudor is to Rolex. Complete rot; there was no such interconnection. Just a brief marketing relationship whereby Zenith added "Favre-Leuba" to the dials (along with "Zenith") of a few watches, most notably cal 135s, that it permitted F-L to market. Possibly the seller assumes that because the founder of Zenith was Georges Favre-Jacot, he must also have founded Favre-Leuba. Nope. Favre-Leuba was founded well before Georges Favre-Jacot came along, and he had nothing to do with the company.​
     
  6. michael22

    michael22 Apr 25, 2017

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    I saw a "Favre Leuba Eterna matic' on eBay last week.
    Did a bit of a double take when I saw it, but on close inspection it was a redial.

    Perhaps a new fashion amongst the faker community is to call everything a Favre Leuba of some kind.
     
  7. gatorcpa Ω 2

    gatorcpa ΩF InvestiGator Staff Member Apr 25, 2017

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    Fabre-Leuba was simply a distributor of Zenith Watches in India prior to WWII.

    [​IMG]

    FL distributed other brands as well. I've seen very early FL branded Jaeger-LeCoultre Reversos for example.

    Later on, FL commission their own unique products from Swiss manufacturers for sale in India and elsewhere.

    Hope this helps.
    gatorcpa
     
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