When you talk with Thierry Nataf, Zenith’s CEO, he has the gift of being able to make you feel that you are the only person in the world he wants to talk to and, that he is divulging to you alone the brand’s best kept secrets.
Whether we are talking about the latest ChronoMaster Tourbillon El Primero (see Talk turns to Tourbillons in this issue), the Grande ChronoMaster Open Revolutions or the ChronoMaster Baby Star, Nataf has so much drive and energy that you can’t help getting caught up in his enthusiasm. The problem is that you forget all the pertinent and probing questions that you had planned to ask.
What is obvious, however, is that Zenith is now an horological force to be reckoned with, capable of meeting both the technical demands of a sophisticated manufacture and, perhaps more importantly, the demands of their clients – the retailers.
“This year, we are not going to launch everything at the same time,” Thierry Nataf explains. “We are going to bring out three new models before BaselWorld, three at the Show, three in September and, as the cherry on the cake, one new model at Christmas.
“But perhaps most importantly, we are now in the position of being able to make immediate delivery of our watches. Those clients who order our new collections at Basel will get immediate delivery and the same will be true for all the new models we bring out during the year. There will be no lengthy wait.”

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But Nataf’s talent doesn’t stop there. He has re-thought, re-structured, re-designed and re-housed practically everything at Zenith, including now paying attention and homage to the ladies – and in a very sophisticated, yet modern manner.
“What we are doing with this new strategy,” Thierry Nataf confides, “is giving Zenith a new dimension. We are creating the ‘emotion of today.”
And for those of you who are wondering what those ‘emotions of today’ might be … take a look at Zenith’s new mannequin (it’s the same model in all the photos) and see how the brand captures and exploits the underlying sensuousness of the girl as African Queen, Baby Doll and Glam Rock.
In addition to the appeal of their complications to watch enthusiasts, Zenith has now brought the brand into the 21st century and is capturing the spirit of today’s consumers.