Living in the 21st Century

Chatting with Zenith CEO Julien Tornare is always an electrifying experience. Few people in the industry are as passionate and lively as him—except, perhaps, for Jean-Claude Biver, chairman of Zenith, Non-Executive President of LVMH’s Watch Division and the very man who brought Tornare into the fold of Zenith. So far, Tornare has shown that he is truly a disruptive element, but in the best possible way.

This year, as Zenith celebrates half a century of the the legendary El Primero movement, Tornare has further opened the brand to the world. Quite literally, in fact, through the Le Monde Étoilé experience where the brand’s manufacture is opened to the public and with the start of the A Star Through Time experience which made its debut in Singapore back in August 2019 and will continue to tour the world in 2020.

DAMAN: Last year, at Baselworld 2018, we talked about your leadership style, especially about the way you injected a “startup spirit” into Zenith. How is that going on today?

It’s still totally there. The reality is that it