Armand was the heir of a cymbal-making tradition that dated back to his ancestor Avedis, who began the company in 1623 in Istanbul.
By family tradition, the secrets of cymbal making were passed on only to the oldest son, but Armand's father, Avedis Zildjian III, gave the information to both of his sons, Armand and Robert.
Armand Zildjian attended Colgate University, and served with the United States Coast Guard in the Pacific during World War II.
After the war, he returned to his father's factory in Quincy, Massachusetts, where, with the help of such music drumming stars as Chick Webb and Gene Krupa, Avedis and Armand revolutionized the cymbal business by adapting cymbals for drum sets by making them thinner.
Zildjian has an honorary degree from Berklee College of Music, is an inductee into the Percussive Hall of Fame, and has his name immortalized on the Guitar Center Rock Walk in Hollywood, California.