In with the new year and huge changes have already been made at the headquarters of Zenith watches. Aldo Magada has been replaced by Head of Watchmaking at LVMH Group Jean-Claude Biver as the interim CEO of Zenith. This marks what could be a defining moment in the manufacturer’s history – one of whether the company can survive in what is a fierce competitive market.

Zenith watches are undoubtedly synonymous with the huge success of the El Primero movement, one of the most highly regarded automatic chronograph movements to date, but the brand failed to truly capitalise on what the brand stands for – classic watches. Almost as if out of a nursery rhyme, you’ll find that trouble always started when the brand wanted to step out from that vintage-inspired, classically styled groove and compete to become more modern and trendy.

Take for instead the release of the Zenith Defy Xtreme, a watch that literally came out of the  blue and threw out of the window all historical values Zenith adhere to (apart from the remnants of the El Primero Caliber). This moment in time for Zenith was particularly dark, however, was steered in the right direction by Jean-Frédéric Dufour, who returned the brand to its roots and history – creating beautiful, elegant, classical watches. Unfortunately, Dufour left Zenith watches pretty hastily when the Swiss giants Rolex came knocking.

The ship was firmly taken over by Aldo Magada in 2014 and despite Magada not doing anything that bad in particular, there was signs of a clear lack of direction and as a result a stagnation in the watch brand.Take for example the Zenith collaboration with the Rolling Stones, and the release of some extremely large Pilot Watches, that was not part of the Zenith brand ethos, history or style. Instead, it was as if the company once again paid the price for wanting to break away and compete in the modern watch market.

The recent collaboration with Land Rover & Land Rover BAR Racing team (see here) was an sensible business move, and showed a lot of potential and promise for the future.

With Jean-Claude Biver taking over the CEO position at Zenith, the question is will the brand revert back to its heritage and classic design with a heavy emphasis on El Primero and Elite collections, or will the brand continue with new partnerships, limited editions, and more modern styling from the brand. Jean-Claude Biver stated: “I am personally taking over interim management [of Zenith]. I want to be more involved and to create greater synergies between the group’s three brands. I’ll be working with the teams to give this brand the lustre it deserves.”

As head of the Watchmaking division at LVMH Group, Biver is referring to Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith and it would be expected that LMVH would continue to keep a harmonious relationship between the three brands: Hublot to remain the high-end modern brand, TAG Heuer to be the modern, stylish, high-tech and more affordable brand, and Zenith to take a solid position as the elegant, vintage-themed and dressy brand.

Despite this, many experts in the subject have cast doubt in the appointment, stating that Biver can only do loud and 21st century styling and branding – doing an excellent job at TAG Heuer and Hublot. However, perhaps it’s best to point out Biver’s success story at Blancpain, where he managed the rebuild the brand from scratch into a key player in the luxury segment and a statement name within the Swiss watch community.