Jean frederic dufour biography examples

What opportunities for Zenith do you perceive in the current crisis?
Every time we go through a crisis, the cards are re-dealt. I have read that

Pictorial essay and in-depth interview with Zenith CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour

Feb 12, , PM

The star is rising again
Pictorial essay and in-depth interview with Zenith CEO Jean-Fr&#;d&#;ric Dufour



A chimney towering over Le Locle

From almost everywhere in Le Locle one can spot a huge brick chimney that seems to tower over the whole town. This chimney has been standing there for more than a years and belongs to the Zenith Manufacture. Pondering the beauty of this industrial monument one would hardly guess how eventful the past century was for the people working under the roofs of the numerous buildings belonging to the Manufacture. And while for some of the other watch manufacturers, after they had survived the so-called quartz crisis, things seems to have calmed down this can't be said of Zenith.



Turning into Billodes street, one faces the characteristic brick chimney that towers over the Zenith Manufacture consisting of 18 (!) different buildings


During and even after the quartz era the Zenith company changed hands several times. Finally, in Zenith was acquired by LVMH Mo&#;t Hennessy Louis Vuitton Group and in Thierry Nataf was appointed CEO of Zenith. Mr Nataf takes the credit of having modernised both the collection and the company itself. He successfully managed to free the Zenith brand of its somewhat tame and antiquated image. His mission was also a commercial success. Any yet, for many friends of the brand &#; including your author &#; Mr Nataf ultimately went too far with his radical redesign of the whole collection and the latest models becoming ever more daring, even sometimes outlandish. (To be fair, it has to be noted that there were a few gorgeous exceptions.) It is against this background that at least one camp of Zenith enthusiasts sighed with relief when they learned about Mr Nataf's departure from Zenith.



Ingredients of a real manufacture: a warm oily smell in the air and a time-honoured wooden floor (dat

The news that charismatic watch CEO Jean-Frederic Dufour is to leave his berth at Zenith to take up the mantle of - in effect - capo di capi of the watch world as the new boss at Rolex has got industry tongues wagging and minds racing.

Dufour cut his teeth at Blancpain, Ulysse Nardin and Chopard before becoming CEO of the LVMH-owned Zenith brand in Since then, he's been credited with restoring the credentials of one of Switzerland's most decorated manufactures by instituting a more classic approach to watch-making based on simpler designs and a more realistic approach to pricing.

At the same time, he discovered a little known fact: when it comes to watches, Zenith actually owns the rights to the name "Pilot". Accordingly he launched a new range of well-received aviators' pieces that harked back to the heritage of the house.

All of which begs the question: as a brand that believes very much in evolution over revolution, what changes might Mr Dufour have in mind for Rolex? And would/could he conceive of a similarly historical element to the ever-changing, never-changing line up of Rolex's prize models?

Short answer, with the imminent UK launch of sibling brand Tudor, rich in heritage pieces, perhaps not in the short term.

However, for the record, here's the pieces we would love to see reintroduced into the present-day list of references:

Bill Prince, GQ Deputy Editor:

I'll start the bidding with the original Fifties 'James Bond' Submariner (as worn by Sean Connery). The present-day Rolex Submariner is definitely a day-to-night, go-anywhere, action man of a watch that doesn't come over too strong on the wrist. However, the original 37mm diameter Submariner was slimmer, flatter, and had no crown protectors, ensuring a very stripped down look. Pop in a new movement, a cerachrome bezel and upgrade its water resistance (the original was a meagre m) and - bingo! - a classic is reborn.

Robert Johnston,