The watch world is littered with cautionary tales of brands caught up in their own history, resting on their laurels and refusing to adapt to a new generation of buyers. So when there is a success story like Zenith’s it is always a joy to shout it from the rooftops.
When Julien Tornare took the helm of the brand in 2017 he determined to take the past successes of Zenith – not least the industry-changing El Primero chronograph movement from 1969 – and refocus them on the present and the future.
And, with a smaller core collection based around company icons, Mr Tornare has seen back-to-back record sales since 2021, more than doubling the business in five years.
Rather than move away from heritage models completely, Zenith has instead introduced its popular Revival range, which underlines the importance of observing the company’s history by taking milestone watches from the archives and relaunching them.
“But if I was only doing Revival models, then I would just be doing what has been done before,” Mr Tornare told the Telegraph last month. “Instead, we use the Revivals to build recognition and to introduce our contemporary designs.”
With an understanding that collectors want to see Zenith’s DNA, history and authenticity in new products, Mr Tornare has used the Revival models to build recognition and introduce new designs such as the Chronomaster Sport – now a waiting-list watch – and the Defy Skyline.
This year, however, saw the relaunch of another mainstay of Zenith: the Pilot’s watch. In the past they had been tool watches for aviators – large with oversized crowns, and often too big for everyday wear. Therefore, Mr Tornare decided on something radical for the 2023 Pilot’s range.
“We will have some heritage pilots coming [in the Revival category],” he says. “But we don’t live in the past, and we don’t want to be a museum brand, so we produce watches of and for the 21st century.”
The new watches have a totally redesigned case, bezel and dial. There are two models – a 40mm Automatic and a 42.5mm Big Date Flyback Chronograph, both in steel or black ceramic.
The dials are louvred, a nod to the corrugated aluminium fuselages of planes, while a white horizontal line above the date aperture at 6 o’clock is reminiscent of the horizontal situation indicator found in a cockpit.
The Pilot Automatic is more rounded than in the past, and the crown, while generous, is angular and more streamlined.
The Pilot Big Date Flyback will look familiar to Zenith aficionados, taking cues, such as it coloured counters, from the 1997 El Primero Rainbow Flyback.
Throughout the collection are hints at travel, but a relaxed form of travel more relevant to today’s consumers than past models that celebrated connections to fighter pilots.
“It is all about emotion and adventure,” Mr Tornare told the Telegraph. “Very much in the spirit of Louis Blériot, who made the first airplane flight across the English Channel in 1909 wearing a Zenith watch.”
Prices start at £6,700 for the Pilot’s Automatic in steel.
