Zenith

Rickr25
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I for one, miss Nataf

He's treated unfairly. Basically everything he did is reduced to the Defy Extreme, that's what everyone associated with Nataf. Folks conveniently forget/ignore ChronoMasters, Class models, and one of the most gorgeous watches every released, the New Vintage 1955. He also kept many of the attractive watches Zenith was known for in production.

Another thing that annoys people, for some reason, was Zenith's marketing by Nataf. People prefer to see watches on a celebrity or in a vacuum. But for some reason they are turned off by seeing Zeniths on an unknown attractive model. Not sure why. I liked that marketing, I liked the attractive female models, the ads were classy, and were interesting to see. I'm tired of seeing watches on a non-descript background and worn by some wanna-be celebrity.

The way I see it, Nataf was the right man at the right time. The Defy had to happen, at a time of excess when people wanted to show off big masculine watches. The Open design was a brilliant idea, and Open ChronoMasters are among my favorite ever. Some people object to holes in dials so they automatically will reject a Zenith Open. The Open design may not look like much in a picture but it has to be seen in real life. It's mesmerizing. And it's not just a rip-off from F. Constant watches. Anyone can show the balance wheel, but no one has re-designed the main plate the way Nataf did. I don't know if Nataf would have been the right man in times of austerity, nor do I know if he wanted to be at Zenith during times of crisis. Regardless, I don't think he gets the credit he deserves.

That said, he did take things a bit too far deisgn-wise in some of the limited editions that cover up too much of the dial, or numerals with too "modern" a design. He played with the philosophical idea of revealing and unconcealing elements of a watch. That's one thing I liked about him. He wasn't just a businessman, or a watch guy. He was an artist and a philosopher. He was very passionate and thoughtful in his interviews and very articulate in multiple languages. All watch CEOs are called passionate but I haven't seen the kind of passion that Nataf exuded in any other CEO.

Nataf understood that Zenith stood for a different kind of watch, something unique. It may not be mainstream but for many of us who like unique things, Zenith was THE watch company. All of that is gone with Dufour. Zeniths now look average, like Rolexes in some respect, very mainstream, nothing that stands out. So far since the new administration took over, none of the new Zeniths has caught may attention enough to want to buy one.