Zenith's 1957 Cover Girl

[MMMD]

1957. The heyday of Ephrem Jobin.
Captains with cal 133.8 and 71...

...Port Royals with cal 135...

...Cioccolatoni with cal 133.8.

But none of these models appeared on the dust jacket of the lovely little book Zenith published that year.

Instead, it was something more colorful... these cloisonné "smoking watches" in solid gold:

Their movement is depicted only on the dust jacket, not within the book itself, and it is quite distinctive.

The base plates are cut and arranged in the form of a monogram. The Zenith faithful may recognize the initials.

I haven't seen a smoking watch yet, but they are on my list now... and the stogies are ready.

 

[LouS]

MMMD

1

...Cioccolatoni with cal 133.8.

Lovely post. Smokin' watches are one thing, but hats off, gents, and a moment of silence for all of the 18K bracelets that have been lost.....

 

[MMMD]

LouS

Lovely post. Hats off, gents, and a moment of silence for all of the 18K bracelets that have been lost.....

Goodbye, yellow brick road.

 

[dsio]

I know man just thinking those thin gold bracelet must have stretched and disintegrated within no time flat.

 

[ELV web]

One preserved here, although not a zenith

 

[Stewart H]

LouS

Lovely post. Smokin' watches are one thing, but hats off, gents, and a moment of silence for all of the 18K bracelets that have been lost.....

Pimps like to be a little more discrete these days.

 

[Tony C.]

Along the same lines, here's a nice illustration of how times have changed from 1970 until now…

 

[MMMD]

Tony C.

Along the same lines, here's a nice illustration of how times have changed from 1970 until now…

Tony, the comparison of that Steinemesque cover from 1970 with a modern-day SI swimsuit issue is misleading. Let's look at the evolution of Cheryl Tiegs in the 70's to give us an idea of the pace of change in that decade alone. You are giving short shrift to the Age of Disco...

1975:

1978 (not a cover, but in the pages of SI):

 

[Tony C.]

MMMD

Tony, the comparison of that Steinemesque cover from 1970 with a modern-day SI swimsuit issue is misleading. Let's look at the evolution of Cheryl Tiegs in the 70's to give us an idea of the pace of change in that decade alone. You are giving short shrift to the Age of Disco...

Ah, but you've missed a couple of crucial, albeit nuanced points. The women who graced those pages in the '70s had no silicone added, and likely weren't shaven to pre-pubecent levels!

 

[MMMD]

You are correct, sir. From my point of view, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

 

[Stewart H]

Does that make the 90's the happy medium of female topiary?

 

[MMMD]

You know, this thread started off in a pretty high-minded vein. But yes, that is true about the 90's. Finally, Brazil was no longer just the country of the future.

 

[Stewart H]

OF strikes again. Watches to smut in half a dozen posts.