Marini was considered an interim incumbent from start. At an advanced age of already 64 year when he took over from Bruno Meier in 2011. Marini is now followed by Jean-Frédéric Dufour, a 45-year old  business specialist with experiences from former posts at Chopard, Ulysse Nardin, Léon Hatot - and Zenith.

(image source: Getty Images)

What qualified Dufour for the prestigious position at Rolex is exactly his achievements at the helm of Zenith: When he moved into his new office in Le Locle, he found a company in financial distress, fatigued by a CEO (Nataf) who allegedly was more interested in polishing is own image than the prosperity of the company he was leading. 

Within very short time Dufour turned the entire collection upside down and extracted a path back  to success, with the core ingredients sexiness and innovation.

While Rolex certainly is extremely strong on the marketing side, the company also certainly lacks technical and aesthetic innovation. Therefore, it is exactly the latter two trays of Mr Dufour in combination with his solid performance record which insider believe finally tilted the balance. 

In addition he is also said that despite his success he was always approachable and kept a low profile. This is a characteristic which might prove crucial for his survival with Rolex: He will have to get along with one of the most secretive committees in the industry, the board of the Hans Wilsdorf Foundation.

This board is said to leave any incumbent at the helm of Rolex very little room for manoeuvre, but Dufour is certainly aware of this constraint. 

At Zenith he was responsible for 300 employees creating about 50.000 watch per year. At Rolex, those number multiply by an order of magnitude...

I wish him all the best as sixth president of Rolex!

Cheers,

Magnus