RARING TO GO

Zenith's new CEO Benoit de Clerck is an old hand in watchmaking. He tells us what surprised him in his first 100 days in charge, and what might surprise you too...

- ASHOK SOMAN

Movements at the top of the watchmaking food chain are closely observed so it surprised exactly no one when Julien Tornare was tapped for the top job at TAG Heuer. His replacement as CEO at Zenith was sure to elicit just as much interest, given that Tornare's accomplishments there had left big boots to fill.

For our part, we had been writing of the seemingly unending string of hits emerging from the manufacture at Le Locle for years. Ahead of Watches and Wonders Geneva (WWG), we were a little apprehensive about one of our favourite brands, and thus the narrative took a familiar turn.

Virtually every story about Benoit de Clerck taking on the top job at Zenith begins with references to his predecessors, and this is perhaps unfair. As a consummate professional and a true watch enthusiast, there is no need to wonder if de Clerck can slip into anyone's shoes. He has his own. Of course, one does not get the CEO role in an LVMH watch brand by answering a want ad so de Clerck does have rather impressive credentials, including a lifetime spent in the watch trade. The Belgian national worked the Middle East market for TAG Heuer back in 1999 before LVMH bought the brand. But as far as watchmaking goes, the story really begins with IWC...

Meeting new faces in this business always leads us down rabbit holes. How many times did we pass de Clerck in some watch fair or other before our first meeting at WWG this year? Did we ever notice that famous IWC on his wrist, perhaps at a Ronan Keating concert? Unlike many executives in this trade, de Clerck reportedly went all-in on the mechanical watch from an early age, with friends ribbing him for his interest in "grandfather watches."