New Heights: 31
Celebrating the role of Zenith as one of the first watch brands involved in early-20th-century aviation, the magnificent Pilot's Aeronef Type 20 is due to be unveiled formally at Baselworld 2012.
Time to Fly For anyone who has been in a coma for the past three years the Zenith story thus far is that following a decade in which the company was run along rockstar lines by the flamboyant Thierry Nataf and profits languished, Mr Arnaud rang Jean-Claude Biver and asked him if he knew of anyone who could help rev up the bottom line (I am not sure that he put it quite like that but you get the drift). Biver identified a young executive, then at Chopard, that he felt could be trusted to do a proper job and proceeded to offer a stunned Jean Frédéric Dufour the opportunity, in characteristically idiosyncratic terms. "He said 'you have to answer me now, if you think about it you’ll never want to do it’." recalls Dufour of his unorthodox 'job interview'. Clearly the reverse psychology worked and, like so many things in Biver's long career, what seemed like a gamble on a young unknown has paid off more than handsomely. For his part, Dufour has carefully watched Biver and has clearly been making copious notes – from time to time it is possible to get glimpses of the legendary Hublot boss's ebullience and enthusiasm in his young acolyte. The combination of high-energy management and a highly public return to traditional watchmaking values seems to have worked. From what I understand, for the first time since LVMH acquired the historic brand it is actually making a profit and critically, too, it seems that the brand is on the right path as was evinced earlier this year when Zenith gave a preview of the 2012 collection.