Modernahab
1147
Pre-Nataf, for sure! (With a caveat.)
Before Thierry Nataf savaged the brand, the house had a great heritage, with solid manufacture movements and a recognizable design language. Why LVMH thought it needed another brand in the ostentatious Hublot style during the 2000s is beyond me, but after the house's resultant (and completely understandable,) crash and burn, Zenith appeared to be rudderless for some time. I think the El Primero alone makes it a house with tremendous potential, and some of the recent technical accomplishments are impressive.
On the design side, I see the revival of vintage visual language in the the A344, A384, Chronomaster Sport, and Chronomaster Original as the best things Zenith has released in at least a decade, but I'm less certain about the design tropes now displayed in the Defy and Elite lines. The current members of the Pilot collection, meanwhile, seem to me to have lost some of their original character. While I understand that the faux vintage look that prevailed in the Zenith pilot's watches a decade-or-so ago may be out of fashion, I still have a soft spot for it - to whit, the Pilot Cronometro Type CP-2 I was wearing yesterday:
POLL : Zenith watches …. 25 years ago or today
Today : https://www.zenith-watches.com/int I still like some off their watches in the modern catalog but in general they choose a direction I don’t like that much I was just browsing through a catalog from early 2000 Some quick and dirty iPhone pics to re...
25 years ago, clearly.
I feel that now Zenith unnecessarily gravitates towards Hublot design-wise and also not much happening innovation-wise.
100% today
Not to deny the solidity of Zenith circa 2000, but I think there is no mainstream brand doing better in their new offerings the last few years than Zenith. When I see a "something new coming" post from Zenith I am actually excited about what it will be! 2...
Continuing the conversation…
I once owned both the El Primero HW with the black dial on the bracelet and the Elite Small Seconds with a white dial. These are photos I took from a Zenith book circa 2010. ...
It's funny, of all the watches I've gone through, Zenith has never been on my radar.
I'm sure they're great watches but they don't seem to speak to me.
Pre-Nataf, for sure! (With a caveat.)
Before Thierry Nataf savaged the brand, the house had a great heritage, with solid manufacture movements and a recognizable design language. Why LVMH thought it needed another brand in the ostentatious Hublot style during the 2000s is beyond me, but after...
Thanks for posting the 2000 Zenith catalog and proposing the poll, friend Bruno!!
I greatly prefer the Zenith models from ~25 years ago rather than the modern ones; in fact, I have one purchased in 2002 that remains a favorite watch (photo below). I do enjoy looking at the Chronomaster Sport models in the current catalog, but there is ...
Pre-Nataf was a great era but unfortunately didn't really sell that well. Now I believe there is a certain cachet to Zenith.
There was a time post Nataf when it joined the big watch bandwagon, more misses than hits. Can still find some hidden gems though.
