gup502
577
A great review! Thanks!!
The brand "Zenith" to watch collectors represents reliability and accuracy, a fairly high percentage of components of an entire watch are manufactured in-house.
Needless to say there is a rich history in horology but you are right about the brand. The fact is they currently have two base movements. There are other brands cannot afford to develop their own movements and use movements from others. They need to focus on dial, case and overall aesthetic design. For Zenith, we expect them to have the capability to offer more.
To develop a new movement at least as good as both the Elite and El Primero is quite an engineering task. It requires a lot of investment in design and testing. Zenith might not have the human resources even matrix system has been how projects are executed.
If there is a new "movement", it needs to create enough 'noise' to get attention of watch lovers.
Marketing investment is one thing, but more importantly "reliability". El Primero has been in production for so many years and the same applies to the Elite movement, if there are any known issues, they would be discovered and well documented. The knowledge management for the two current movements forms the foundation of 'quality'.
The watch industry is competitive and in general consumers have a higher demand for reliability in almost anything they purchase in the 21st century. Social media spreads the good, the bad and the ugly like lightning.
I want to see Zenith make progress to the next level not by just offering new dials and new casing or using newer materials in movement manufacture or like you mentioned adding vertical clutch.
It will take time and to see success, a lot of factors must play well to create a great choreography. That is a real challenge.
Challenges the new Zenith CEO needs to face - quickly and sustainably!
With the departure of Aldo Magada and the arrival of (interim) CEO Jean-Claude Biver, I believe it is high time for us to consider the areas needing significant improvement. Zenith is a brand that almost exclusively relies on one single - albeit significa...
Fantastic article Magnus
I am one of those people mentioned who would like to have and El Primero movement is the collection. But haven't taken a fancy to any Zenith watch is over a decade.
Valid point Magnus
I support most of them. However, it contains a strategy for the next 15 years... ;-) The foremost most important point is: Zenith needs to make money again in order to reinvest it for the improvement of the general value proposition you described so well....
To Magnus:
It seems that JCB does not want to change to much on the products side, and more on the communication side: Here a brandnew interview from NZZ, also regarding Zenith\'s strategy: It seems difficult to post links here...
Well, that interview was more about TAG and the Connected, less about Zenith...
thus we'll see what he has to say exclusively about our beloved brand! One thing is for sure: we live in exciting times as Zenith lovers! Best, Magnus
that's why I wrote - "its also about Zeniths strategy"...;-)
The interview has no specific brand focus.
Great article Magnus. The beauty of Jean-Claude Biver?
He would be quite thrilled to sit down with you and discuss these points. Most CEOs would not, if I had to guess.
Awesome. I look forward to this interview!
JCB tells it straight and does not hold back.
Zenith's most famous watch is also its biggest weakness
I agree If it were up to me, the ultra-top high end would not need to be continued. Marvellous watches without doubt, but not ‘Zeniths’. Zenith is part of LVMH group, so they might share resources and technologies. No reasons to "fight" each other, so ass...
I certainly agree with you on most points...
As Zenith has certainly established its technical prowess, providing a modern "twist" to the El Primero would certainly be a step in the right direction, but one that mostly only established connoisseurs would appreciate. My pragmatic side concedes that m...
This is a very interesting article Magnus
for an interesting moment of Zenith's life. First, I think there really is a difference between people going that deep into the watch world, reading about watches on the net, and the other type of clients which have never cared about going any further tha...
One way could be to have something like...
The heritage The contemporary The avantgarde That way different clienteles could be reached, and each collection could have distinct, well-developed and defined features, but also cover different price points. A recognisable Zenith design code that could ...
Great article, Magnus!
To me there's so much under exploited quality and value in Zenith's current catalogue that marketing strategy and repositioning of the brand will certainly help greatly. I hope we see a new Zenith emerge, and the idea of a totally new evolution of the El ...
Not much to add
This is so true Zenith has probably on off the most interesting histories in watchmaking Maybe the most important. It does not have the prestige we find a for example patek but they don\'t need too Indeed, if you look at all the contests and prizes zenith...
Zenith must energize the USA market.
But it won\'t be easy. To sell well here: it must be a status symbol, it must be more widely available, it must be advertised, it must be written up in men\'s style and executive lifestyle magazines, and it must be reasonably serviceable. Nataf was the on...
Good points
Definite yes to a chronometric certification standard for performance and advertising.
A great review! Thanks!!
The brand "Zenith" to watch collectors represents reliability and accuracy, a fairly high percentage of components of an entire watch are manufactured in-house. Needless to say there is a rich history in horology but you are right about the brand. The fac...
Hi Magnus
A very worthy post on the current position of Zenith. In the UK it seems Zenith really doesn't seem to capture the imagination of the Omega and Rolex buying public like it should, with the heritage behind it (I could say the same for Longines, just look a...