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Zeon to relaunch Ingersoll at Baselworld

British branded watch specialist Zeon will relaunch Ingersoll at Baselworld this month, attempting to restore the former American watch giant to its historic position.

With the popularity in American heritage design, as witnessed within the watch sector through the growth of Shinola and the clever repositioning of Timex, it is a great time to get this fallen giant back on the right track.

Brent Cross-based Zeon has spent the past 12 months working towards the relaunch. Managing director Simon Gilham spoke exclusively to WatchPro, admitting: “It’s more than just a simple relaunch, it has been a journey of rediscovery. A lot of what has made this brand a great brand since its birth in 1892 had been diluted in recent history and we wanted to reconnect our customers with the brands core values and heritage.”

According to Gilham, Baselworld 2016 will mark the beginning of an intensive 12-month campaign to put Ingersoll at the forefront of consumers’ minds.

He said: “This will be a global campaign and will encompass both retail and consumer activity. Completely new ranges and products have been created accompanied with a life-time warranty. The goal of which will be to engage and excite consumers with the brand’s history and the authenticity of its products.”

James Buttery

Editor of WatchPro, the WatchPro Hot 100 and The Luxury Report.

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6 Comments

  1. Even if you took Shinola from the days when they made shoe polish (1929) rather than watches (2011), Ingersoll had still been making watches for 38 years by that point.

  2. 1917 Ingersoll model IMAGE: http://cockycrewstor.jugem.jp/

    I don’t want to get into who did what first, because there’s not a brand in existence that has been truly original throughout its lifespan. But if you put a coloured dial and bright highlights on the Ingersoll model (thought to be from 1917) above it would be pretty close to what Shinola is producing now, modern proportions not withstanding.

    Shinola didn’t produce its first watch until 2013 so you can’t really accuse Ingersoll of copying Shinola and you can’t blame modern Ingersoll for wanting a bite of the market that it started along with the likes of Timex in the 19th Century. Shinola has helped make American heritage popular again though, no denying that.

  3. This is a beautiful WW1 watch! I would love, love, love to see a real re-issue vs. the above.
    You are right though – who wouldn’t want a bite of the market? Is there is a sense of jumping on the bandwagon?
    I wish companies were a little more original these days – they should look at their heritage and progress. There’s something a bit off with a philosophy that says: U-Boat is popular so let’s do our version, now Bell & Ross is popular so we’ll try that next, and now Shinola. No doubt Ingersoll did the trench watch first out of the two, but let’s look at another era and create something different rather than revisiting something that’s already been done recently.

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