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“Think back to 1888, it’s crazy. Georges Favre-Jacot He created the company in 1865 at the age of 22, and 23 years later, at the age of 45, he envisioned watchmaking serving aviation and flight instruments, long before the first airplane even took off. In 1888, he trademarked the term “PILOTe” and subsequently, “PILOT”, along with names from other fields that he considered promising,” says Julien Tornare, CEO of Zenith.
The launch of the new Pilot collection was unexpected. A complete change with a more commercial proposal and very solid mechanically. “You have to wait until the beginning of the 20th century to have the first pilot’s watch, to have the first airplane flying, to have the famous Santos and all the stories that we know about us. But we’ve been protecting those names ever since. And we keep doing it every 2 or 3 years, signing a document to make sure the name is ours. Zenith remains the only watch brand that can carry the word ‘PILOT’ on its dials.” Julien Tornare speaks loud and clear. “Remember that defeat no longer exists.”
A radical change
—It’s been a big turn on the clock and those are risks you have to take.
—Yes and no because you already know that the main risk for the brand in the past has been going back too far into the past. Remember that defeat no longer exists. Chronomaster It got a bit dated and dusty. So we’ve been rejuvenating this product line. Basically we do the same with the Pilot collection. I’m confident it’s going to be great and it’s going to be big because there’s been incredible enthusiasm from our partners after the launch. They feel the commercial potential of this new product line, which was quite limited with the other one. The previous model seemed vintageNot everyone wants to look vintage because of the size and predominance of the crown, which is very large, so it was a segment for certain people. The base and legitimacy is incredible. We have done things in twentieth century. my predecessor Jean-Frederic Dufour threw a bronze vintage which are still here, still a very good watch. But we decided to bring a more contemporary dimension and that’s how we came up with a very modern pilot’s watch. Let’s not forget that we have what we call “revival”, which is a kind of horizontal dimension of each crossover, of each product line. And within this concept, of course, we are going to relaunch some of the “pilots”.—It seems that the Pilot legacy was hidden in Zenith, could it be due to the historical success of the automatic chronograph, El Primero?
I don’t know, but what you say is completely true. Although that makes my life so much easier and better. And the same thing happens with the story of Charles Vermot. When I walked in, I was like, guys, why don’t we talk about this story a lot more? And that’s why we talked a lot about it during the El Primero 50th Anniversary. Now the Pilot, the more I do research on it, the more amazing things I find at Zenith. So let’s talk about it. Let’s make more people aware of this. That is exactly what we have to do. It’s sharing more about real stories. You know some brands that I’m never going to mention, but they are making up stories to create marketing. AND we have it inside, but we don’t say it, it kills me! So now we have to be much more dynamic on that.
“Reach for the Star”
—What are the key features of the new collection?
—Two chronographs. The Big Date, which is instantaneous, which is quite an incredible statement, and the Flyback, with some colors to tie in with the rainbow. People like to see this. And of course the three-hand piece, a little smaller at 40mm, where we’re really doing big volumes. This is a really very nice watch to look at, absolutely gorgeous. And the technology is amazing. The design, the look and feel, the story. It’s an amazing product. I am very excited to release it this year.
—The classic language about pilots watches is not seen in the campaign.
“No, no, not at all. And I think that’s also what people like, that we take a different angle. We bring a new spirit. It’s much more lifestyle, if you want. En communication, Pilot for us is much more than a reference to adventure, to what Louis Blériot did when he crossed the channel. Our founder was very focused on reaching his star. When you reach for your star, the sky is the limit, the sky is yours. It’s time to reach for your star. That is exactly what he wanted to push the limits. And for us it is exactly this, which is why we will never go into fighter jets or commercial aircraft. It’s more about the philosophy behind traveling and the excitement of the paper airplane campaign, for example. It’s very important because it takes us all back to our childhood, we all play with them at some point, it’s a completely different concept.
Open doors
—Does the fact that last year was a record in the industry help to launch a completely new product? It is the golden age of watchmaking.
—It helps a lot and I think it’s a really good boost for us to release. PBut it’s hard to use the term “golden age” because we heard it 10 or 15 years ago. Yes it’s correct. Today we are on the verge of some changes. A few years ago we were scared that the younger generation did not wear a mechanical watch, or that they only wore a cell phone on their wrist, a connected watch. Today we can feel that it is not so. The new generations are much more informed, they know much more because they have so much access to information thanks to social networks, the web, etc., and we have to be even more strategic in our communication and we have to be transparent. we have to be honest. I get a lot of compliments from young people saying that what they like about Zenith is that we are very clear about what we do.s. We can visit the factory because the doors are open. All watches have an open back because we are proud to show what we put inside the watch, El Primero, and we stand by it. They like Zenith because it is still very honest and a true brand with a long heritage, but one that is expressed in a modern way.
—This fresh language now comes with a lot of colors in watchmaking. You are working with this new approach, touching the colors.
-Successful. Yes it works great. Today we must not be shy. We shouldn’t be just black and white. We must be able to bring colors in life in general and that is why we bring colors to our watches. There are some colors that we are not going to talk about today, but you will see them throughout the year because we have some surprises. This has been a great learning from the COVID situation, in the past brands were introducing everything here and then for 10 months, you don’t do much. That is, you see your dealer, you see your price, but you advertise everything. With COVID, we’ve learned that it’s interesting to have releases like a trickle all year long. They are faster cycles. It is also an opportunity to grab attention when there is less expectation because nowadays [Watches & Wonders] all brands are launching. Throwing too many things could be a waste because you will focus on the main topic and forget the rest. And believe me we have other pieces that are amazing.
—You mention the product life cycle, getting shorter every day, but you need time to develop products and manufacture them. Watches are not made like pants or a jacket.
—It’s a journey, it’s really a process. You are absolutely right, regarding the limitation of production and the limitation of product development. We need a lot of time, but the world is moving faster and faster, so we have to make concessions and we have to find ways. When you release something, it’s not because it’s a year or two old, it’s an old product. It’s still new for us in terms of production, but on the other hand, because of fashion and social media, it’s going so fast that the pace is different and we have to play between the two.
New DEFY Skyline Skeleton Boutique Edition, available exclusively in all the firm’s physical and online boutiques.
“A nightmare”
—Another interesting topic is the new approach to skeletonization in Defy Skyline. You have El Primero and it’s a different approach. What does this skeleton exercise mean to you?
-It’s a nightmare. And people don’t always realize that when you skeletonize a move you don’t just take a move and cut it on the inside and it’s going to be fine. It’s a crazy job. It’s almost like developing a new caliber. And from a sales point of view, it’s not that easy. It’s a big restriction. It is a complete new development, we are already known for skeletonized watches, since a few years ago we launched skeletons that are very modern. Here is more about the mechanics that it looks like, but not in a traditional way. It’s very modern, a very mechanical approach, and that’s what we like. We have already had success with Defy Classic and Defy 21 and now, of course, with the Defy Skyline. They are not too many, but we continue. We take care that in skeleton watches you can still read the time because sometimes the visibility is so bad that you enjoy the mechanism, but you don’t even know what time ands. So it’s something we pay attention to. It is a good balance between aesthetics and technical development.
—So after the Pilot surprise, are there more coming?
—Yes, more colors, some highly complicated. A couple of very high, very cool complications coming in the next few months that you’ll love. Some materials, some very extreme that you will see in the collection and that will be very surprising. Take a taste? [risas] In the long term, we have been repositioning Defy, Chronomaster, now the Pilot, but I do not forget the fourth product, which is Elite. I am working to bring it back because I firmly believe that classic, fine, elegant watches have not been lost forever. It is true that in recent years a lot has been invested more for sport-chic, steel, informal style, etc.. But I think that classicism in watchmaking will return. So we’re working, we’re getting inspired. We also have beautiful watches from the 50s. In a couple of years we will have a couple of surprises about it. We do not forget the classic watches.
Other Dreamers
—Lastly, what will Zenith’s new Dreamer mentoring platform look like?
—They will be part of a mentoring program in which they will spend time with the people who sign up. We can’t take everyone, but we will make a selection of people who are with the project, any type of project, and want to achieve their own star and their own success. They will be able to exchange ideas with tennis players, rally drivers such as Catie Munnings, and different ladies who have been successful in their field. TOyes we offer the platform to also promote the empowerment of women. They inspire you a lot. But Dreamers is a platform where these women can inspire to women and men, we do not want to make differences. It’s global. So we offer the platform to also promote women’s empowerment
“And you haven’t thought about this program with your male ambassadors?”
—We are ‘genderless’ at Zenith and we are very proud to assume it. We make beautiful watches and campaigns and different things. You decide if it sounds like a man or a woman to you. We are not here to put categorys. We don’t like that. I don’t like to categorize people, even in my own life, and I try never to categorize people by how rich they are, what race or nationality. I don’t like it at all, because I have friends from everywhere and I don’t like this segmentation that we’ve had in men’s watches, women’s watches and these ideas like Asians like small watches. For me, this is very old society. So we removed that. We make beautiful watches and the customers will decide.
The firm has released three new boutique editions of the DEFY Skyline in 41mm and 36mm. —one with diamonds— in sky blue color
—Lastly, what will Zenith’s new Dreamer mentoring platform look like?
—They will be part of a mentoring program in which they will spend time with the people who sign up. We can’t take everyone, but we will make a selection of people who are with the project, any type of project, and want to achieve their own star and their own success. They will be able to exchange ideas with tennis players, rally drivers such as Catie Munnings, and different ladies who have been successful in their field. TOyes we offer the platform to also promote the empowerment of women. They inspire you a lot. But Dreamers is a platform where these women can inspire to women and men, we do not want to make differences. It’s global. So we offer the platform to also promote women’s empowerment“And you haven’t thought about this program with your male ambassadors?”
—We are ‘genderless’ at Zenith and we are very proud to assume it. We make beautiful watches and campaigns and different things. You decide if it sounds like a man or a woman to you. We are not here to put categorys. We don’t like that. I don’t like to categorize people, even in my own life, and I try never to categorize people by how rich they are, what race or nationality. I don’t like it at all, because I have friends from everywhere and I don’t like this segmentation that we’ve had in men’s watches, women’s watches and these ideas like Asians like small watches. For me, this is very old society. So we removed that. We make beautiful watches and the customers will decide.The firm has released three new boutique editions of the DEFY Skyline in 41mm and 36mm. —one with diamonds— in sky blue color
