Consider for a minute, in the midst of already softened economic conditions, a platinum model with lapis lazuli dial sold for a quarter of a million, while 20 gold models and 49 stainless steel models were snapped up like gangbusters. “ – Julian Tornare on balancing Creativity and Provenance New Zenith Chronomaster Revival “Shadow” bets on the brand’s Modern Heritage… and Wins “There absolutely must be. At Zenith we have a century and a half of proud tradition on which to draw but this must be leveraged within the framework of looking to the future – in other words, building on the past to create the future.įast forward 2020, the new Zenith Chronomaster Revival Shadow, is inspired by the same A384 case with one key distinction – a modernesque black colour, monochromatic aesthetic from 1970. Thanks to Charles Vermot’s quick thinking back in 1975, Zenith was able to pick up on its mechanical watchmaking prowess without having skipped a beat.Speaking to CEO Julien Tornare on the occasion of LVMH’s inaugural watch week in Dubai, the watch community often struggles with the positioning of one of the industry’s most storied names: a lone watchmaker struggling against all odds at saving the intellectual property and know-how of mechanical watchmaking as a similarly named tech company (of the era) Zenith Radios systematically gutted their latest acquisition.
Fast forward to 1978, Zenith was now under new management again, who decided that Zenith should reclaim its craft. Not only that, he even listed each component and each tool carefully in a ring-binder file that he kept in a forgotten attic of the Manufacture.
He then took it upon himself to stow away the more essential equipment including, the presses (150 of them, weighing more than a ton), the technical plans, the cams and the cutting tools. His request was, however, met with a firm no. He was convinced that mechanical watchmaking would return before long and asked the management at the time to not do away with all of the production equipment. Among them was Charles Vermot, a specialist in chronograph movement construction who had followed the development of El Primero ever since the first sketches and spent his entire career within the Manufacture. To the people at the Manufacture who had given their heart and soul to their labor, this was horrible news. In 1975, an American brand that owned the Zenith watch company mandated that the watchmaker should focus on making quartz watches only.
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