Why Zenith plays with music and stars in new collection

Haute horlogerie marque Zenith’s offerings at the first edition of the LVMH Watch Week at Dubai has something for everyone, with a very diverse range of watches. Julien Tornare, CEO Of Zenith, sits down with us to tell us the brand’s plans and the way forward…

Can you tell us about the El Primero A384 Revival, and how did the idea come about?

We spent the whole of 2019 celebrating the anniversary of the El Primero. It was a very successful celebration last year and I wanted to continue to capitalise on that. We have created a large community that is really interested in the Revival iconic pieces. In 2019, we had introduced the A384 Revival piece with a leather strap, and that was very successful.

Since we launched it, we had tons of requests from clients about bracelets made by a company in Switzerland called Gay Frères in the 1970s. Since there was so much interest, we decided that we would work with it and re-launch the bracelet as it was 50 years ago. After a few months of work, we came with this very special and iconic bracelet. It is not just the watch that is iconic, the bracelet is equally so.

How was the feedback? Did you anticipate that kind of success?

Honestly, no; we did not anticipate it would be so successful. The A384 on strap was first delivered in the middle of 2019, and it was the bestseller September-December ­– four months in a row; a huge success for us. It picked up dramatically, and we couldn’t cope up with the production, as we didn’t anticipate that much of a demand. We had to start a new batch of production for that watch. Now that we have it on that bracelet, we will definitely continue to improve our business on that line.

Zenith is now offering a watch in collaboration with Carl Cox; how did that relationship come about?

The partnership with Carl Cox was the result of a purely chance encounter. I was introduced to him at some point by mutual friends, and we talked quite a bit. He explained that when he started, he had to face enormous odds as he did not come from a privileged background. He had always dreamed of making it big in the world of music – as a singer, musician, or a DJ – but it took him quite a while to reach success. He spoke about how he had attained his lifetime achievement, and that is very much in keeping with our new “Reach for the Stars” philosophy. This is something we have always felt passionate about, but hadn’t really expressed it in the right manner. I realised that our brand philosophy and what he had achieved were a perfect fit.

We have been involved with the world of music earlier – our collaborations with Rolling Stones and Swizz Beatz – so we decided to work together. He is almost a legend in the US and Europe, and it would be good coverage for us. Though Cox is known for his music of the 1980s and 90s, he is still very much appreciated by the 30+ age group. We have just kicked off our collaboration with him, and we have to work in a smart way as he lives most of the year in Australia. He will of course travel regularly and we will do a full collaboration with him.

Moving on to Zenith’s collaboration with Land Rover, can you tell us how you arrived at an all-grey timepiece?

We are working with Gerry McGovern, Land Rover Chief Creative Officer, who heads the Design Team in London on the Land Rover collaboration. In the past, he had always been pushing for the classic look, but this time when we spoke with him, he emphasised on how tough the Defender is; a very strong car, it is rough and the strongest SUV ever. How the Defender is used when other SUVs are stuck; it is a powerful vehicle and he wanted a powerful watch.

We talked about some interesting colours, the rendering, and the power reserve that we wanted to look like the fuel gauge in a car. We wanted all of these to come together as a strong watch. We decided to do this in a different material, polish it in a different manner, and get the desired results. I think we did good. It is a limited edition and it is tactile; we have had good feedback for this watch. The all-grey effect is to attract attention. When Gerry described the Defender to us, he said that it is not like other vehicles on the road; it stands out, and he wanted a similar effect. We made a few sketches, played around a bit, and we finalised this one. This is so different from the other Defy 21s. It is an all-grey, rough watch and I like it.

With your new collection, Zenith’s offerings for ladies has grown a lot; how important is its female line to Zenith?

It is very important to us; one of the first questions I was asked was about my plans for a ladies’ collection. I said that there were a few things that needed to be fixed first, but I would soon after look to offer something for the ladies. Everyone remembers the “Open Hearts” line we offered during Thierry Nataf’s time as CEO of Zenith. It was a strong line in terms of sales, but I did not want to re-launch Open Hearts and wanted to do a different watch. Even though we did not have a strong offering for ladies, we have maintained around 15% of our business with women’s watches. I wanted to go back to making it 30%, but not more than that. I wanted to make a watch that is of the 21^st century, of course, Elite has some ladies’ watches. But for a contemporary watch, Defy is the best line to pick from.

Then I was wondering how to make it different; everybody was doing watches with blue dials and in steel. I wanted one part that touches the emotions; it should be about emotions, passions, stories and concepts – that is the starry sky. With our new tagline and campaign “Time to reach your star”, this watch reminds the women of the 21^st century that they are going to reach their star. So, we have the sky here and a few stars; one of the stars is the owner of the watch. We wanted to communicate this vision, this story – a bit of the passion – to our clients, so we put it on the dial. This was the romance part, but we also needed something concrete – a special tool for the women of the 21^st century.

The women of the 21^st century lead 4 different lives every day. They are active, have multiple roles to play, and are entrepreneurial. Men are not as good at multi-tasking as women are; I wanted to offer a watch that could be used in different conditions and different moments of the day and the week. We did not invent interchangeability, but we are the first one to deliver such a watch. You buy one watch, you get the metal band and three different straps. Let us assume a woman starts her day by going to the gym, she can use the metal band. At night, she has a dinner party or an event, she can wear the red strap to match her outfit; the watch is very much in the style of the 21^st century. That is what we want to say; it is a watch that touches your emotions but is also functional.

Zenith now – after a gap of a few years – is again focusing on offering both men’s and women’s watches; can you comment on that?

Yes, for some time we totally forgot the women and I think it is wrong because we live in a world where women are becoming much more powerful. For instance, in China, till a few years ago, women received a watch as a gift. Nowadays, women in China run their own successful businesses and buy their own watches. This is a new type of clientele, and I think it is important to have a good offering for women; there is no reason we shouldn’t. The stars and the starry sky are concepts that are talking to women, and I believe this is the right time for us to do this. The reactions here and on the social media are very positive, which I think will later translate into good sales.

Why did it take so long to release a steel version of the Pilot Type 20 Rescue watch?

It is an aviation watch, and the aged look is no longer so relevant; we decided to launch the watch in steel, which gives the watch a very contemporary look. It is cleaner and more elegant as well, and I think it is the right way to go for now. The big year for Pilot watches will be 2021 as we will come with new things then.

Can you comment on the rumours that there will be a revival of the Defy Xtreme line?

You will see; we have been getting requests for a larger size of the Defy – a body-built Defy – for some specific markets. Not all markets are excited about it, but I think it is important to at least think about it.