when julien tornare took over as ceo of zenith in 2017 after 17 years with vacheron constantin the brand was struggling with an identity crisis since being acquired by lvmh in 1999 a string of managing directors had attempted to revive the historic marque with lackluster results “what i noticed from the beginning was that there had been very different directions taken by my predecessors” tornare says “each did something good but sometimes in very different directions so there was a lot of confusion around the brand and people did not understand it” tornare 50 found zenith had become a bit quiet and dusty in an era when a new generation of watch buyers wanted bold modern watches he set out to rejuvenate the brand by infusing it with a contemporary attitude and focusing on updated products and a marketing platform more attuned to the 21st century as far as historical bona fides and watchmaking cred go zenith is richly endowed georges favrejacot founded the firm in 1865 in le locle switzerland with a mission to produce the most precise watches the world had ever seen favrejacot pioneered vertically integrated watchmaking bringing all the skills and crafts under one roof defining the concept of manufacture or “inhouse” movements over the decades the brand captured awards for highprecision chronometry as it expanded globally in more recent history zenith’s enduring claim to fame was developing in 1969 the el primero the first automatic integrated highfrequency chronograph movement an icon among the watch cognoscenti and collector class el primero’s exceptional performance did not go unnoticed by other prestige brands including rolex which used a modified version of the movement for its cosmograph daytona from 1989 until 2000 when rolex introduced its own after two weeks on the job tornare recalls jeanclaude biver then president of the lvmh watch division and a watch industry turnaround legend asking if he thought having el primero was a strength or a weakness “it’s a great strength” tornare says “how many brands would love to have such an asset” at that point zenith was doing well in the japanese market where el primero was admired and appreciated regardless of weak branding while watch collectors coveted el primero for its iconic stature but tornare realized he couldn’t build a global brand with two small client bases the key was to leverage that asset and preserve the seriousness of the brand while expressing it in a contemporary way—including product design marketing social media ecommerce store displays and right down to the packaging “we took one subject after the other to turn this brand into what it’s becoming now” tornare says “the heritage is great the history is great the manufacture is fantastic we have the el primero but let’s translate all that into something people feel like buying” under biver’s direction a few months before tornare came on board zenith launched defy 21 which contributed to redefining the brand’s image “it was the most contemporary line a bit of a laboratory for creativity and innovation on one side and it also gave me time to redesign the chronomaster collection that we relaunched in 2021” a round of housecleaning was also in order “when people see too many models and too many product lines they get confused and they don’t understand the brand” tornare says he explains that 15 years ago zenith had a staggering 12 product lines with some 800 references when he started that number had been winnowed to 200 references but tornare further whittled it down to 100 references and four core product lines defy chronomaster pilot and elite a classical collection that is poised to make a comeback this year zenith expanded its longstanding pilot collection with the nononsense 40mm automatic pilot in stainless steel 7500 and black microblasted ceramic 9600 additionally the new pilot big date flyback in steel 11500 and black ceramic 13500 capitalizes on zenith’s chronograph expertise with an automatic el primero columnwheel chronograph with a flyback function paired with a patented instantaneousjumping big date at 6 o’clock meanwhile zenith’s revival series of recreations of rare vintage models sprinkle across the four pillar ranges “revival is a testimony to our watches but it’s not a product line in itself” tornare explains “not only do you sell watches to clients who are looking for that vintage touch but you also reassure the ones buying new watches because it says this is where it comes from” on the retail side he had to convince partners that zenith could perform well despite its checkered track record in the process he streamlined distribution from 850 doors to 580 doors including 35 boutiques “we also launched a lot of initiatives as the first brand to do them to show zenith has a new more contemporary dynamic than some of our peers” tornare says among these was the first customization partnership with george bamford a londonbased watch customizer that also works with zenith’s lvmh sister brands tag heuer and bulgari zenith was also the first manufacture to open its doors for public tours that showcase its rich heritage and technical savvy in 2019 the brand marked the 50th anniversary of el primero with fanfare and limited editions then tornare and zenith were confronted with the pandemic “i was desperate—it’s tough already when you are a strong brand but if you are a recovering brand it’s a disaster” he says “but then i realized it helped me to speed up the transformation now i can tell you covid helped us we gained a lot of market share during covid” last year zenith saw sales increase 30 to 40 over 2021 marking its best year since the lvmh takeover the brand produced about 24000 watches last year and is planning to increase production 10 to 15 per year in the past five years the average customer age has dropped by nine years more lvmh goes public on sustainability “now that we have repositioned the brand the objective is to gain market share with our retail network ecommerce and wholesale partners to give them more pieces to increase production” tornare says as zenith prepares to celebrate its 160th anniversary in two years it remains focused on building awareness of the brand an area where tornare sees plenty of room for improvement “that’s why we use ambassadors collaborations and partnerships—to get more people to know about zenith once they know it they dive into the brand and they either like it or not but at least they know it” he says this story originally appeared in the june 2023 issue of penta magazine