Avedis Zildjian - Founder of the 400 yr. old Cymbal Company

Zildjian Cymbals

            Zildjian means “Son of a Cymbal , Maker” or “Family of Cymbalsmiths”.

The Beginning

            In 1618, Avedis Zildjian, the son of an Armenian metalsmith and alchemist, worked for the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople (now known as Istanbul).  The Sultan summoned Avedis to the Topkapi Palace to make cymbals for elite military bands.

Avedis made an alloy of tin, copper and silver into a sheet of metal which made musical sounds without shattering.  The Sultan was so pleased with the cymbals he gave Avedis permission to start his own business in 1623.  Avedis eventually crafted cymbals that were widely used in the Armenian and Greek churches, Sufi dervishes and also by belly dancers in the Sultan’s harem.

18th Century

Avedis Zildjian III emigrated to the U.S. in 1909 to flee the Armenian Genocide.

            By the 1700’s European composers, including Mozart and Haydn, added Zildjian cymbals to their symphonies which enhanced the reputation of the company.  After the death of Avedis, the business and the secret for producing the metal, were handed down to several generations of male heirs.

19th Century

            In the early 19th Century, Haroutiun Zildjian passed the business on to his son Avedis II who built a 25 ft. schooner in order to sail cymbals produced in Constantinople to trade exhibitions like the Great Exhibition in London and to supply musicians in Europe.  After he died in 1865 and since his sons were too young, his brother, Kerope II, took the company over and introduced a line of cymbals called K Zildjian, which are used by classical musicians to this day.

20th Century

            The Zildjian name became one with cymbals after Avedis III emigrated to the United State in 1909.  He settled in Boston where he started a confectionary business. This was when the Ottoman Empire was in decline and life began to deteriorate for the Armenians and other minorities there.  In 1927 he received a letter from his uncle Aram that he was about to become heir to the family business.  In 1928 Avedis III, his brother Puzant and his uncle Aram Zildjian began manufacturing cymbals in Quincy, MA and the Avedis Zildjian Co. was formed the following year in 1929.

            In the early 20th Century Jazz was exploding.  Avedis III traveled to New York City to develop new sounds with pioneer musicians like Gene Krupa.  In 1964 with the Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show everyone wanted to be a musician, especially a drummer, which drove their business into the modern era.

            Since the 1970’s the company has operated in Norwell, MA.  There the company designs, casts, blasts, rolls, hammers, buffs, and tests a million Zildjian cymbals a year.

Cymbalsmith works on a cymbal on a lathe at the Zildjian cymbal factory in Norwell, MA. https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/12/16/400-years-zildjian-cymbals-massachusetts

            13 generations ago, a young metalsmith was trying to make gold but ended up concocting a combination of tin, copper and silver which produced a very loud, resonant beautiful sound, which is still being produced 400 years later for the music world.  Zildjian is the oldest manufacturer of musical instruments in the world as well as one of the oldest continuously operating companies in the world!!