The company was founded in 1623 in Constantinople by one Avedis, who, while looking for a way to turn base metal into gold, created an alloy combining tin, copper and silver into a sheet of metal that could make musical sounds without shattering. Avedis took the surname of Zildjian, Armenian for "son of a cymbals maker", and began an industry whose main product remained secretive for generations. It became family tradition that only the oldest son of the company's head would know the manufacturing process.
This tradition ended with Avedis Zildjian III, who, just before his death, passed on the secret to both of his sons, Armand and Robert. This resulted in a family feud and a legal struggle which ended only when Robert left the company to form the rival Sabian cymbals company.
The Zildjian Company moved from manufacturing noisemakers to frighten the enemies of the Ottoman Empire to musical instruments in the 19th century. The company moved from Turkey to the United States in 1929, and set up business in Norwell, Massachusetts. The needs of 20th century musicians caused the company to develop newer, thinner, and more melodious cymbals, adding them to drum sets and making them lighter for drummers to incorporate the sound into their music-making.