Julien Tornare, CEO of Zenith
Cover Julien Tornare, CEO of Zenith

After a banner year in 2022, Zenith's CEO Julien Tornare looks to the new year with even greater optimism

When it comes to precision time-keeping, Zenith's Defy collection is said to be "the epitome of the manufacture's endless pursuit of precision through innovation". This is largely thanks to the high frequency El Primero movement that powers the Defy watches. 

At the LVMH Watch Week 2023 in Singapore, Zenith introduces the Defy Skyline with a skeleton dial—in blue or black—further distinguished by a four-pointed star at the top. Instead of a third hand indicating the seconds, the Defy Skyline, which is distinctive for its 12-sided bezel, has a 1/10th of a seconds counter; in the skeleton version, it sits at 6 o'clock. The hand makes one complete revolution in exactly 10 seconds, a visible evidence of the precision of the openworked El Primero 3620 SK calibre's 5Hz frequency.

Relaunched in 2017 by then new CEO Julien Tornare, it's not a stretch to say that the Defy range has contributed vastly to the renaissance of Zenith, apart from the Chronomaster Sport that launched in 2021. "[Defy] immediately gave us a breath of fresh air," declares Tornare. "The model is also a very good playground for creativity and innovation—the name itself is permission to defy the rules. The team has total freedom to come up with ideas."

See also: Tag Heuer CEO Frédéric Arnault teases a return to high watchmaking

Tatler Asia
Above Defy Skyline Skeleton in stainless steel with a blue dial; the 1/10th of a second counter is at 6 o'clock

He points to the Defy Extreme Glacier that incorporates chalcedony, a crystalline stone with pale blue hue, around the pushers and dodecagonal bezel. "Nobody had ever heard of chaldedony but I said this was great because it looked like a frozen glacier. The result is a watch that looks cool," he enthuses. "It's the same with the skeleton watch. I wanted to do a contemporary skeleton and I wanted the star to be on the skeleton dial."

Defy has since become a key product line, very modern and a great complement to the newer Chronomaster, which is also very successful.

See also: What you should know about Zenith’s Defy Classic

Tatler Asia
Above Defy Extreme Glacier in brushed titanium and calcedony

Before Tornare came onboard as CEO in 2017, the brand was in dire need of a rejuvenation. "It wasn't in the best shape," Tornare says. "When [former Zenith boss] Jean-Claude [Biver] hired me, he was very transparent about the situation."

Tornare had his work cut out for him as it required a major rebranding exercise, if not a complete overhaul. He started with "the fundamentals"; the products were a key focus, of course, but that would take time.

"We worked on the marketing, we worked on the brand platform, the communication platform, the boutique concept, the displays, the watch box, the website which was terrible. We had zero social media so we started social media. From 2017 to 2019, we worked on these and completely transformed the brand."

Just when things were looking up, Covid hit. Tornare seized this opportunity to build its online presence. "We were probably one of the most active brands online. We kicked off our e-commerce, starting in Europe, then the US and later Asia. We now have an e-commerce platform in nearly 40 countries. Six to seven per cent of our global business is now done online. It was an acceleration I had not planned but Covid pushed me to do that."

Despite the global lockdown and its accompanying challenges, Zenith had its best performance since LVMH acquired the brand in 1999. It had its best year yet in 2022, recording a double-digit growth.

"The momentum is very positive for the brand," says Tornare. "We have incredible products [at LVMH Watch Week] and we will have incredible products at Watches & Wonders [in March 2023]. Demand for our watches is strong."

See also: The beguiling Bulgari Serpenti adopts an all-new diamond-set bracelet

Tatler Asia
The new Defy Skyline Boutique Edition in slate grey sunray dial
Above The new Defy Skyline Boutique Edition with slate grey sunray dial, with the 1/10th of a second counter at 9 o'clock

Tornare clearly has no regrets taking on the job six years ago. "There were three things why I accepted the offer. First, it was Biver, he is a legend in the industry, and I felt I could learn from him. Second, it was a global position in which you were responsible for every aspect, from product development to production. Third, I had always thought Zenith was a beautiful brand with an incredible story and heritage."

He adds: "I knew it wasn't going to be easy but I also knew we could do so much better. I tell my team today that we should be proud that we have brought the brand back on the right track."

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