With its crown positioned at 6 o’clock, anti-magnetic case construction and decades-long history of producing dive watches for the French Navy, ZRC 1904 is a brand built on a remarkable heritage.
It is the early 1960s. Time is being kept by a dive watch descending into the depths alongside the divers of the French Navy. With its crown positioned at 6 o’clock, the Grands Fonds 300® stands as one of the most distinctive dive watches in horological history. Behind this unconventional collection is a watch brand with more than a century of heritage: ZRC 1904.
Best known for its dive watches, ZRC traces its story back to 1904. The brand was founded in Geneva by Edmond Zuccolo and Joseph Rochet. In its early years, ZRC produced chains for pocket watches before going on to create some of watchmaking history’s earliest examples of “claw” bracelets, designed to make pocket watches easier to wear on the wrist. The company quickly gained momentum and, in 1917, developed the first expandable metal watch bracelet, earning the prestigious Prix de l’Industrie Nouvelle de Genève. In the years that followed, ZRC deepened its expertise in watch bracelets before opening a new chapter in its history with the production of watch cases.
From the 1920s onwards, as the watch industry intensified its technical pursuit of watertight case construction, ZRC began to expand its own expertise in the field. Thanks to its proficiency in precision turning and machining, the company received a growing number of commissions to manufacture watertight cases. Yet the defining turning point in the brand’s history would come in 1958.
ZRC Begins Producing Watches for the French Navy
During a conversation between Yves Pastre, watchmaker to the French Navy, and Bourdarian, ZRC’s Commercial Director at the time, Pastre mentioned a tender issued by the Marine Nationale. The Navy was looking for a company capable of producing watertight watches for its divers. This was how the story of the ZRC Grands Fonds, introduced at the beginning of this article, first began.
The first Grands Fonds 300® received official approval from the French Navy in 1960. Yet the story of the watch was far from complete. The Navy asked ZRC to develop a solution that would neither restrict a diver’s wrist movement nor, more importantly, allow the crown to open underwater.
In response, the ZRC team repositioned the crown to 6 o’clock in 1964, creating what would become one of the brand’s defining design codes. The crown was connected to the case through an ingenious proprietary system built around a tube machined from a single block. With this technical solution, the Grands Fonds 300® entered watchmaking history as the first and only watch to feature fully monobloc case construction. Made from a special steel reinforced with molybdenum, the case was also completely anti-magnetic, allowing the watch to be safely used by diving teams who could encounter mines fitted with magnetic triggering mechanisms.
ZRC continued to develop technical innovations for the Navy in the years that followed. By the 1970s, the brand had created a dedicated retractable lug system within the space between the lugs. The system allowed the bracelet to articulate only when the crown was fully secured, making it impossible to submerge the watch unless the crown had been completely screwed down. The bracelet also featured two expandable links, allowing it to be worn easily over a diving suit. For enhanced underwater legibility, Grands Fonds watches were fitted with highly luminescent “Magnum” hands.
Designed by divers for divers, the watch served for many years across different units of the French Navy. The watches were subjected to rigorous testing under the harsh conditions associated with military use and successfully passed these trials. They were used by the French Navy’s diving school, mine-clearance units and combat divers.
The Grands Fonds 300® was not confined to military wrists. It was also used by the Paris Fire Brigade and the French waterskiing team, while its story became closely associated with Commander Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s legendary Calypso. Expeditions to different corners of the world helped strengthen the international reputation of the ZRC Grands Fonds.
Beyond the 2000s
ZRC celebrated its centenary in 2004 and, in 2015, took the first steps towards reviving its iconic model. The ZRC® GF300 was reborn: as robust as the original created half a century earlier, yet equally distinctive in character.
That same year, the brand’s ties with the French Navy were strengthened once again. ZRC watches were present at the 50th-anniversary ceremony of the Mine Clearance Divers’ Group in 2015. In 2016 and 2017, the brand produced a special series of 50 ZRC®–FOST watches for active submariners of the French Navy. Beyond limited editions, ZRC watches also continued to appear at events held within the French Navy. A heritage spanning more than half a century continued to keep time beneath the surface.
Robust and Distinctive: ZRC Watches
ZRC has developed considerable expertise in stress analysis related to the controlled deformation of materials, enabling the brand to produce dive watches capable of withstanding extreme depths. Without relying on a helium escape valve or gel-filled case construction, ZRC can create watches resistant to depths of up to 5,100 metres, while its engineering expertise also enables the development of slimmer and more wearable cases.
Sapphire crystal, steel, titanium and ceramic do not respond identically to changes in pressure and temperature. By bringing these different materials together — in some cases within a single watch — ZRC demonstrates the depth of its technical expertise across its contemporary collections. Still occupying a distinctive place in the horological landscape through its dive watches, the brand today is particularly known for its Grands Fonds and Securicode collections.
True to the philosophy of being “designed by divers for divers”, the Grands Fonds collection offers models in a variety of materials, bracelet and strap configurations, and dial colours. The collection’s Heritage line also includes models with a more pronounced vintage character. Among the latest additions to the collection, the Titane-Rubber is a quintessential summer watch, pairing a vivid yellow rubber strap with a blue dial.
Among the latest additions to the Heritage series are the Crimson, Smoke and Chestnut models, distinguished by their red, orange and brown dials respectively. Presented in 39 mm stainless-steel cases, the watches offer water resistance to 300 metres. Each model also features anti-magnetic properties.
The Chestnut is paired with a Milanese-style steel bracelet, while the other two versions are fitted with rubber straps. Across the Grands Fonds family, the crown positioned at 6 o’clock remains a defining signature, and a direct tribute to ZRC’s longstanding heritage.
For further information on the watches, please visit the official ZRC 1904 website.
