Zenith

Dear All: thanks to my fellow moderator Andrew Daley I can now provide you with an article recently published in the renowned UK newspaper Financial Times . Therein Zenith's global marketing director Juliette North very openly explains the reasoning behin...  

Very interesting read; thank you for sharing! I think the last line is particularly interesting; the suggestion that we may begin to see more brands stepping 'down' to sourced movements, in order to evolve to face the new economic realities of the industr... 

and like you I can understand why brands like to use it to sell their watches and distinguish themselves - its so easy to 'understand'... However, a watch is much more than a movement, and the other qualities (and those of the brand) are much more difficu... 

As I see it, there are at present only two high end industrial watch companies (Swatch Group and Rolex). The rest are more or less boutique marketing houses, especially LMVH. Why Zenith can't sell more than 30'000 watches a year is a mystery. Do they get ... 

I think you put a but much emphasis on the movement (as I said fully understandable as an accomplished watchmaker ,-)). Just because Zenith resorts to outsourced movements does not meant that the watches are on the same level as a Tissot (which besides do... 

I entirely understand why, if they want to expand the brand, they need to have a lower entry-price and to achieve that, they must forgo the in-house movements. What I am less clear on is the need to expand the brand. They're not a small company, or even p... 

I would risk the statement that RD is not exactly a success story either. So, if according to Ms North 'purists' (read: collectors) are not the main target audience I guess it would be difficult to market the advantages of a Zenith movement in a Dior, TAG... 

I don't remember if any particular RD movements are used completely unchanged, but they are the basis for several of the recent complications, i.e. the Ballon Bleu Flying Tourbillon A

Dear forumners, What's the problem? This is the natural cycle of time in the watch industry. By the fact that some people are complaining shows how "young" today's consumer or collector of mechanical watches are. Even our more senior members remember buyi...  

Sir, your response reflects a very deep understanding of human psychology and the retail market..I am a Pakistani and have lived in six different countries and currently living in South Korea. your point about new lifestyles and artificial gods' creation ... 

Dear Melvyn thanks for your very refreshing perspective. Yes, I agree with you on the cycles. Demand comes and goes, tastes and preferences change, and the industry has to cope with it. I see an industry confronted with immensely expensive overheads due t... 

Zenith has decided to turn its back on it's loyalists. It would be fine if these moves would be accompanied by moves to make the best possible watch and to innovate. I have no issue with outsourcing so long as this is reflected in the price and they do no... 

at the level of the El Primero (with all its iterations and derivatives, from Minute Repeater to a basic three-handed watch) and forego the level of Elite at an in-house status. While the Elite is an outstanding movement, its not exactly a star in the app... 

I can't say that Zenith's decision to start using outsourced movements is the wrong direction for the brand as it is still too early to tell. But I must say that the "Pilot Type 20 Extra Special" a bad start. Here's a few classic examples why. 1. Customer... 

is that the Sellita-thingy is an afterthought where they had to use the just revived Pilot collection exactly because this one is actually attracting new (and younger) customers. Best, Magnus

While I'm not thrilled about the news, I don't really have an issue with this. IMO, they're taking the same path many other watch manufacturers/companies are on in broadening the appeal to the market, from the purists to the man on the street who's lookin... 

+1 "What I will have an issue with is not so much the movements, but the marketing that goes about endorsing just about every private club and sports star out there and passing those costs down to the consumer, which will then negate any potential price e... 

if - and this is a big IF - they play it well. I am inclined to give the incoming CEO a carte blanche on this. Magnus

Dear all: I took the liberty of taking a few days to ponder about this decision. Initially, I was taken aback by it, but the more I think about it and the more I read the contributions here (THANKS SO MUCH!) the more I am confident that (partially) resort... 

Very well said Magnus. Like I mentioned, I have no issue with the move to partially outsource. I was not impressed with the way they quietly introduced it in a watch labelled Extra Special. And I have yet to see how the movement is finished. I am also a l... 

to these things. Also the reason why I don't make a ton of money. But then again, I never really needed to ;) Thanks for sharing this article.

All this proves is that LVMH doesn't understand the brand. This move will alienate the current clientele without drawing a new set of loyalists. Already, it's difficult to see how a high-volume Zenith is anything but duplicative of TAG Heuer, a brand that... 

Swatch certainly did a wise thing in that the split their customers into various levels served by different brands , not trying a one-brand-fits-it-all approach. I am not saying that Zenith is trying to do that, its to early and in addition - next week we... 

they read PPro's Zenith forum :) I think that apart from the fact that all manufacturers use different online resources to feel the pulse of customers our CEO MTF already said it in this thread "Zenith did NOT announce they were abandoning in-house moveme... 

'but 1': In the FT article it was stated that previous CEO Mr Dufour announced the demise of the Elite movement. Which immediately raises... 'but 2': the announcement of the new ladies' timepieces with the Elite movement came on 2 July - the 2nd day in o... 

that I'm God given or knowledgeable or of any merit but I feel and see that life is full of ifs and buts (pun not intended) so world of horology is not exception Life is one big compromise ...some learn it sooner some later some too late...some hard way o... 

If Rolex could use El Primero movements, and Patek Philippe could use Lemania movements, it is understandable that Zenith uses Sellita movements.

The reality is that Zenith is only known to the cognoscenti. Ask your non WIS friends, family, and colleagues to name an example of a "good" watch and inevitably Rolex will be mentioned. If you had a couple of grand to blow on your first good watch the ch... 

Sorry for the misspelling

that the Sellita movement are - rumor has it - already history? More here: Cheers, Magnus