When Zenith introduced the G.F.J. Calibre 135 at Watches and Wonders Geneva 2025, it marked one of the more consequential acts of horological archaeology in recent memory: the full re-engineering of Calibre 135, the most decorated movement in the history of observatory chronometry trials. That inaugural piece came in platinum with a lapis lazuli dial.
For Watches and Wonders Geneva 2026, Zenith closes out its 161st year with a second interpretation in an 18K yellow-gold case and a dramatically different dial material, shifting the watch's personality from cool, nocturnal to something warmer and earthier, this time paired with a bloodstone dial.
Things to Know About the Watch
The case geometry is unchanged from last year's platinum debut with 39 mm in diameter and just 10.5mm thick, with a stepped bezel and curved lugs drawn from the 1950s dress watch vocabulary. What differs is everything, from material to palette. The yellow gold feels considerably more immediate on the wrist than platinum—warmer, richer, more expressive, and in conversation with a different collecting tradition.
The three-part dial retains the brick guilloché chapter ring that references the facade of Zenith's Le Locle manufacture, but the center is now bloodstone, a dark green jasper with characteristic red mineral inclusions, ensuring no two dials are identical. The small-seconds subdial at 6 o'clock remains in mother-of-pearl. The hands and indices are yellow gold, completing a cohesive warmth across the dial. Production is capped at 161 pieces, matching Zenith's age in 2026.
The Movement
The G.F.J is powered by and updated version of the iconic manual wound calibre 135. This 157-part movement beating at a frequency 18,000 vph provides a power reserve of 72 hours. This time, the movement is not decorated the same way as in the G.F.J. Platinum 160th-anniversary piece, but with Côtes de Genève.
This manual wound movement deliberately beats at a slower rate as it was engineered in the original 1940s calibre to maximize rate stability for observatory competition. The re-engineered version retains this architecture while adding a 72-hour power reserve, hacking seconds, spring-mounted shock jewels, and a Breguet overcoil hairspring. COSC certification is held to ±2 seconds per day. The oversized 14 mm balance wheel and characteristically offset center wheel remain the movement's defining structural statements.
On the Wrist & Price
The Zenith G.F.J. in yellow gold is a convincing argument for the color's return to serious horology. Due to its size and design, it wears as a proper dress watch, slim enough for a shirt cuff and proportioned for most wrists without apology. The bloodstone dial is the real visual event: moody, mineral, and entirely non-repeatable piece to piece. Three straps are included—beige nubuck alligator, green alligator, and black calfskin, all with yellow gold pin buckles—and a matching yellow gold bracelet is available as an additional option.
Sticker Price USD 51,900. More info on Zenith here.
