Albert Favre Zanuti facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Albert Favre Zanuti
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| Born |
Morsano al Tagliamento, Italy
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| Died | |
| Citizenship |   Swiss-Italian |
| Occupation | Watchmaker, Horologist |
| Organization | Zanuti & Cie. |
| Known for | O-yatoi Gaikokujin |
| Spouse(s) | Alice Favre |
| Children | 3 |
Albert Favre Zanuti was a skilled watchmaker and businessman from Switzerland and Italy. He played a very important role in helping Japan develop its own watchmaking industry in the 1880s. He was part of a special group called O-yatoi Gaikokujin, which means "hired foreigners" who helped Japan modernize.
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Albert Zanuti's Amazing Career
Albert Zanuti was one of the first watchmakers to travel to Asia in 1886. He went to Japan because Viscount Aoki Shūzō, a Japanese diplomat, invited him. Albert is remembered for helping to start the watchmaking industry in Japan.
Between the 1870s and 1880s, Albert Zanuti was a main supplier of pocket watches. He sold watches to companies like C&J Favre Brandt and Siber & Brennwald. These companies were in Yokohama, Japan, because of a trade agreement between Switzerland and Japan from 1864. They relied on Swiss partners like Albert to get watches, spare parts, and machines.
These early Swiss watch exports were very important for Japan. They helped create Japan's own watchmaking industry. They also helped train the first Japanese watchmakers, like Seijiro Sakurai and Kintarō Hattori. Kintarō Hattori started by selling Swiss watches. Later, he founded the famous brand Seiko.
In 1887, after selling watches successfully in the US and Japan, Albert Zanuti officially started his own company, Zanuti & Cie.. He was invited by Viscount Aoki Shūzō to join the 'O-yatoi Gaikokujin' program. This program was Japan's plan to bring in foreign experts to share their technology and culture.
Albert's Early Life and Travels
Albert Zanuti began his career as a 'cabinotier-watchmaker'. This means he made parts and basic movements for bigger watch companies. While working as a cabinotier, he started selling Swiss watches to jewelers in Europe and South America. Some of his first orders were gold pocket-watches for a company called Gondolo & Labouriau.
Like many famous watchmakers of his time, Albert Zanuti traveled to the USA during the Gilded era. He wanted to sell more watches and take advantage of the Gold rush and the growing Industrial Revolution.
In 1886, Albert Zanuti left the US from the port of Seattle and sailed to Yokohama, Japan. He traveled on a large ship from the American Pacific Mail Steamship Company.
Albert Zanuti went on to start one of the first foreign companies in Asia, Zanuti & Cie.. He was also responsible for bringing some of the first Swiss wristwatches into different Asian countries. Along with François Perregaux and James Favre Brandt, Albert Zanuti was a pioneer in watchmaking in Japan.
Albert's Family Life
Albert Zanuti was born 'Alberto Zanuti' in Italy. But in the French-speaking watchmaking areas of Switzerland, he became known as 'Albert'.
He was born near Morsano al Tagliamento, Italy. This small town is in the Veneto region, about a five-hour drive from Switzerland. His father was Italian, and his mother was Swiss.
When he was 14, Albert moved to his mother's hometown in Switzerland. There, he became a watchmaking apprentice. He loved making watches and continued this passion throughout his life.
Albert Zanuti married Alice Favre, a Swiss nurse. They had three children: Gianni Zanuti, Isabella Zanuti, and Anna Maria Zanuti.
See Also
- Foreign government advisors in Meiji Japan
- François Perregaux
- Meiji period
- Foreign relations of Japan
Books
- The first Swiss watchmakers in Asia, chapter by François Chaille, Girard-Perregaux, Editions Flammarion, 2004, ISBN: 2080110691
- Documenting the Meiji Era in Japan (1868-1912), Michael R. Auslin, ISBN: 9780674022270
- Swiss Imports from Yokohama and Japanese Watch Manufacturers: The Market for Watches in Meiji Era Japan, 1869 – 1912, by Pierre-Yves Donzé
- Turning Points in Japanese History, the Meiji era, Pag. 71-102, edited by Bert Edstrom, 2002
- Notable Oyatoi gaikokujin, by Akashi Shoten ISBN: 9784750331508, ISBN: 4750331503
- Historical records on foreign residents in Japan, Nyūkan Kyōkai (Tōkyō), ISSN 0915-4876
- Documenting the European Society in Yokohama from 1871 to 1908. Japan weekly mail (OCoLC) 882879033
- The first Swiss watchmakers in Asia, François Chaille, Girard-Perregaux, Editions Flammarion, 2004, ISBN: 2080110691
- Le Japon et l'industrie horlogère suisse. Un cas de transfert de technologie durant les années 1880- 1940, Author; Pierre-Yves Donzé.
- Mario M. Einaudi, and Jennifer Allan Goldman. "The Pacific Mail Steamship Company Collection." Southern California Quarterly 94, no. 4 (2012): 407-09.
- Library of Congress, Yokohama publications on its European Society from 1870-1915 Serial number: (OCoLC) ca06001290
- Rolf-Harald Wippich: Japan als Kolonie? Max von Brandts Hokkaido-Projekt 1865/67, Hamburg 1997, ISBN: 3-934376-53-3.
