BaselWorld 2016: Zenith joins Distinguished Gentlemen's Ride to fight prostate cancer!

For the first time at Baselworld, the organisation "Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride" (DGR) and Zenith held a bikers' rally last Sunday. Fifty gentlemen drivers donned their finest tweed and their best cravats to parade through Basel astride their classic motorcycles. It was a convivial celebration of style and elegance, heralding the upcoming global rally which will take place in September.

Shared goal for this partnership is to raise funds to be invested into research against prostate cancer. Today, the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride (www.gentlemansride.com) is one of the largest rallies in the motorcycling world. In 2015 DGR collected over $277,000 for prostate cancer research in a rally conducted simultaneously on 400 cities of the world.

Founder of DGR, Mark Hawwa said: “Our main aim was to have fun, but we also wanted to debunk a few myths about bikers. My vision was to organise a rally for riders of café racers and custom motorbikes with a few important rules: participants must come dressed as a "dapper gentleman" with an open-face ‘Jet’-style helmet (so we can see their smiles) and, of course, they must be riding a classic motorcycle. These fundamentals still govern rallies all over the world”.

Hawwa concluded by saying: "Zenith is the perfect partner for us. We share common values in terms of style and pleasure. Zenith is a legendary, authentic brand like our longstanding partner, Triumph. Our passion for style and mechanics is perfectly reflected in Zenith watches."

Aldo Magada, President and CEO of Zenith, added: "Ageless mechanics, a timeless style, pleasure and sharing... teaming up with this world-class organisation was an opportunity that Zenith could not miss! It is a very worthy cause and we are delighted to be able to take part in it. Authenticity and pleasure are cardinal values in our manufacture. And this initiative is a perfect match for Zenith, its history, its manufacture and its timepieces. It also goes hand in hand with our various other commitments, particularly with classic cars.”

Zenith took this opportunity to present its "Heritage Pilot Café Racer" timepiece with its statement vintage style, equipped with the legendary El Primero movement (more on this later in a separate post):