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PuristSPro.com interview: Zenith CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour
At a recent event at Westime Beverly Hills, Team PuristSPro had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Jean-Frederic Dufour, global CEO of Zenith. Founded in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot in the Swiss mountains of Neuchatel, the manufacturer has had a noted history of innovation, precision, and reliability. Most known for the El Primero self winding movement, Zenith produced a high frequency chronograph which resulted in accurate timing. Mr. Jean-Frederic Dufour took the reigns of Zenith on June 1st, 2009 and has led a impressive return of the manufacture to its roots in watchmaking.
ZENITH CEO Mr. Jean-Frederic Dufour
"The Pioneering Spirit"
by
Dr. Ming Woo
Anthony Tsai
ZENITH CEO Mr. Jean-Frederic Dufour
PPro: Hello and welcome to Los Angeles, home of PuristSPro and ThePuristS! The weather has been great and you arrived at the perfect time.
J-F D: Thank you, we have an exciting event tonight proudly showcasing the Zenith El Primero Striking 10 in honor of Jean-Louis Etinne, so I'm very glad to be here in California!
PPro: So please tell us, what makes ZENITH unique? What's so great about zenith?
J-F D: It's a very different history than other brands, it has been in the same location for over 145 years, since it's foundation it never stopped producing watches. Zenith is the most awarded brand in the whole industry with 2,333 prize recognitions for the precision of its watches…wrist watches, pocket watches... which is a record in the history. Zenith is also unique as a brand in its creativity , with over 279 different patents over its 145 year history.
Then also in Zenith has real legitimacy in it's history of classical watches that we produced since the beginning of the brand making pocketwatches, to the 50's and 60's elegant watches, to now the top of the line the Christopher Columb. And on the other side of the collection, the ICONIC collection, based on the 1969 El Primero, which was the very first high frequency self winding chrongraph ever produced. So this also something that makes Zenith different from others as we really have a iconic product in the watch industry.
So if you are looking for a chronograph, you should always automatically consider Zenith being selected.
PPro: Describe the ideal Zenith client.
J-F D: Thanks to the precision and reliability of our watches we have been have able to be distributed world wide since the beginning of the company and this is why today Zenith is well known among aficionados. We were distributed worldwide for 2 reasons: being precise and reliable.
The people who were looking for precision and reliable watches in the past were pioneers….explorers, scientists, politicians, industrials... they were the people who were building the modern world that we are living today. The current client can be described as a pioneer, interested in the history, quality, exclusivity, and precision. And currently we are also having ambassadors offering the Zenith pioneer spirit….like Jean-Louis Etienne and now Felix Baumgartner, who will be the first man to reach the speed of sound.
PPro: Now there's the partnership with Felix Baumgartner (the explorer not the watchmaker), what and how was it decided on making him the ambassador to represent Zenith?
J-F D: Whenever you mention an accomplishment, someone already did it. Man has climbed all the mountains, we walked all over, swam, and sailed across all oceans…whatever, someone already did it traveling at the speed of sound with your own body, never been done. And it's one of the last challenges that human kind has to do. To have human kind move forward, you need people doing unique things - like Sir Hillary climbing to the top of Mount Everest. He did something no one ever did before. He opened the way of climbing mountains and today, it's an activity that many people experience now. For Felix, it's the same. It's a partnership together with NASA, Red Bull, Microsoft, Nokia and Zenith as the official timekeeper. When successful, Felix will open new ways to jumping back from space to earth. For example, one day we will be travelling very easily from one space to another. As for flying really high in the sky, we will need options for rescue to get back to Earth, and one option is jumping from space. Today it's a $15 million dollar project - it's very serious. NASA came on board to develop the suit, capsule....almost 2 tons of material to lift up to 40 km. Felix will reaching the Speed of Sound after 23 seconds and will be jumping into the emptiness of space in -60 degrees. So it makes it the ultimate REAL World Record you can do on Earth.
You know you can go as a brand and do a testimonial, and you pay for whatever the number one sport, number one race, art or industry, etc….but it's like going for a billboard. But being Zenith, I was looking for something different, as a link to what we are. And Zenith being a pioneer, we had to a way to associate with a pioneering image so that is why we wanted to do something different, something that has truly never done before. And I had a chance to meet Felix Baumgartner through a contact of mine, and I then quickly decided that he would be the one.
PPro: How long has Zenith worked on the timepiece for Felix and his mission to break the sound barrier?
J-F D: We are actually still working on it, 200% a day, he will be jumping soon! (laughs). Yes he will be jumping soon, so we are working on the watch 24 hours a day for this project so the watch can be ready and functional, precise and reliable, on time for the jump. We need to find the right metals to be able to support the difference of temperature from -60 to +20 degrees in a couple of seconds, and we have to find a sapphire crystal to be able to resist the extreme UV/radiation exposure. If you go up with a watch and expose it to the UV/radiation for a just a few minutes, it's not a problem. But if you stay up there, it can kill you. So we have to find a crystal that will protect the dial from radiation…so things like this will be a challenge. But we will ready on time.
PPro: Will the watch have any complications?
J-F D: The watch will be a Zenith watch! But I can't tell you more? [smiles and laughs]
PPro: Can't tell us just a little bit more? Any hints?
J-F D: [smiles] No No No, you need to wait a little more! [laughs] But seriously it will be on a El Primero of course. It will have something useful for pilots, and I'll let you imagine what it can be!
PPro: Will there be a limited edition piece to commemorate this accomplishment?
J-F D: There will be a piece for Felix and then there will be an edition for everyone. The material we will be using for Felix will be difficult to produce on a large scale.
PPro: When did u start the project with Felix?
J-F D: Not long ago...
PPro: Like a year or two?
J-F D: No no no, not even a year! A few months
PPro: So it's down to the wire to get this going!
J-F D: I'm not kidding you, it really is a 24 hour project!
PPro: So how do you test the Zenith for space?
J-F D: We have access to machines that can test for those conditions like radiation in space, extreme temperate changes, and all that. They are independent laboratories used by the European space industries and programs.
PuristSPro General Manager Anthony Tsai (L) with Zenith CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour (R)
PPro: How has the Defy Extreme line of watches after being introduced affected the image of Zenith? Do you regret that line?
J-F D: I don't regret anything as I was not with Zenith at that time. [Laughs]
It was before the crisis, and then we had the crisis, and now we are in post crisis. You can see that with the history that everyone went crazy. Not just us, but the whole industry went a little crazy. Now we are in a more reasonable and more horological product, and not just Zenith, but the whole industry, you know.
PPro: With the Defy, there were some negative comments with the line, and it kind of defined Zenith. What would you like to say to those out there about this?
J-F D: As for past products, to be fair, I can find this in all brands, even the 'best' in the world, I can find...how do you say? The 'black swan'. So it's just not us, but it happens within all the brands. I would like to tell all to look now at the current Zenith new collections to see for yourselves. We have focused and drawn on our history as a manufacturer, history of precision, and of reliability.
PPro: For the future pieces, what do you have in store for Zenith at Basel 2011?
J-F D: [smiling excitedly] I have something that will be released in December, which is NOT the Felix watch, it's still early to tell you. Yeah, we are doing something that is our way. This one we've been working on for awhile now. Of course we have currently the Christopher Columb [points to the watch on his wrist] the first watch always having with the escapement stay in the horizontal position.
PPro: Now there's different type of customers out there…for those new to the world of horology, why choose Zenith?
J-F D: If you are new to the watch brands and ready to spend a couple of thousand dollars, go for something which has the value you are paying - this is very important. As the first step you need to be satisfied with your purchase. Now, I'm not telling you that you have to buy Zenith, but rather buy a product that has value for the coming years.
For those who look for rarity, Zenith produces an exclusive amount of pieces and it has the El Primero movement for those that understand what they buy.
PPro: For the experienced collector.....why Zenith for the higher end and complicated pieces?
J-F D: Well for tourbillon, you have the Zenith Tourbillon for example, you get a El Primero which is a milestone in the Swiss watch industry,. So if you are collecting tourbillons or collecting chronographs, you must have a Zenith otherwise your collection is not complete. It's a classic, it's a milestone in horology. It's like having black shoes in your wardrobe, or if you like driving cars you test a Porsche or Ferrari, it's the same with an El Primero chronograph.
PPro: What's your opinion of Tourbillons? Everybody is doing one…is it just a fad? Is it played out?
J-F D: It depends. There is a tourbillon Tourbillon. You take a El Primero and you have a tourbillion, it is exclusive since you have El Primero which is a high frequency chrono and a tourbillon on top, so it's interesting. Now, if you talk about the tourbillon that you get from suppliers that everyone in the industry is getting, of course it does not have the same value. It's up to the collectors to realize the difference between these tourbillons. For example, red wine, u have to go for the right red wines, there's a difference you know, it's a matter of education and to know and understand what you buy. For me, if you go for what I call 'Manufacture Tourbillon' meaning that the parts are bearing the name of the company, it's still a tourbillon that's complicated, difficult to produce, and has value.
PPro: How about bejeweled watches?
J-F D: With jewelry pieces it depends…..some have jewels with real mechanical complicated movements inside the watch. Others it's a pity that you have jewels on a quartz movement that costs 20 Swiss francs. It's like having a beautiful car with a small engine in it. It's better to have a beautiful car with a beautiful engine! So for me, if you have a beautiful watch with beautiful diamonds and a beautiful mechanical movement inside, it's okay....it's not a problem.
PPro: How do you feel about Limited Editions? Some say it's getting out of hand while others don't mind.
J-F D: Limited editions can be frustrating as when you are leading a company, it can be so successful that you regret it because you limit the collection. So it depends….if it's too much….then it's too much. It depends on the brand - some do, some don't. For some brands it's good, it helps differentiate one from another. Also with Limited Editions you can better manage your references because when once the edition is finished, then it's finished. You don't have it in the collection anymore. But you are right, some brands are over doing the Limited Editions. Some say they are limited, but then they produce and produce and it frustrates the consumers.
PPro: And what of opening boutiques? There's criticism that brands are getting greedy with opening boutiques and taking away from the AD's that have supported the brands in the past.
J-F D: Depends on what country, what streets. Some places you may not be well represented there, and you may have to open a boutique because nobody there can carry the brand positively and correctly. And sometimes with the retailers, they carry too many brands so you are not treated the way you want to be treated, so it makes it too difficult. So opening a boutique is justified, and a lot of factors come into play.
PPro:
J-F D: No, we are not concentrating on a specific area. For example, in fact the business is growing faster in China and Asia than the U.S., but I'm here as you can see, in California, in the U.S. today. The watch business, it's a global market and we are distributed everywhere.
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For the rest of Ming's interview in HoMe forum, please CLICK HERE