Hardly anyone can confidently pronounce it, but there can be very few music lovers who do not know the name and the logo of Zildjian, just as there are very few brands which are as synonymous with a single type of product as is Zildjian. This recognition is born both from quality and from longevity: while a good few hi-fi companies have recently been celebrating 40th or 50th anniversaries, last year Zildjian celebrated the 400th anniversary of its founding in Turkey. Almost inconceivably, after four centuries and a move to the USA, it is still run by Zildjian family members.
The secret cymbal “formula” had been passed from each head of the Turkish Zildjian foundry to the next male heir...
until in 1927 the next male heir was Avedis Zildkina III, who had already emigrated to the USA to become very successful in the American candy-making business, thank you; what did he want with cymbals? But Avedis III’s wife encouraged him to make enquiries at local music stores, where he was amazed to find that even in Boston everyone knew that the best cymbals in the world were made by Zildjian in Turkey. So he opened a foundry in the US in 1928, selling first to the US Army’s marching bands, and then to dance bands, big bands, and jazz bands, during which expansion of business he established a virtuous feedback circle in order to “get drummers what they need”, a philosophy which led to the diverse shimmering discs of gold gracing the kits of the world’s greatest drummers ever.