Not too long ago I had the pleasure of sitting down with de Clerck at Zenith’s in midtown Manhattan. Strolling into Zenith’s New York Metropolis workplaces, one is likely to be forgiven for anticipating one thing just like the exuberant downtown tech workplaces most well-liked by the likes of Google, with over-the-top facilities and wild ornament.
As an alternative, what you discover, after getting into by means of a discreet foyer with an entrance surrounded by building, is a small, sedate workplace that may very well be some other in New York Metropolis, besides that it occurs to take a seat on the intersection of a number of the world’s most costly, and unique, retail area. So it was there, in a quiet room excessive above the bustle of midtown, that I discovered myself sitting with Benoit de Clerck, a looming poster of Ryan Gosling subsequent to us (Zenith and TAG Heuer share a New York workplace area), discussing Zenith, getting in hassle at Watches & Wonders, his imaginative and prescient for the model’s future, and the 4:30 date place.
New Management for A New Problem
Benoit de Clerck has spent a lifetime within the watch trade, starting his profession at TAG Heuer in 1999 (simply earlier than its acquisition by LVMH) earlier than spending over 20 years in numerous positions at Richemont, a tenure which culminated in practically a decade at Panerai, the place he spent the previous couple of years as Chief Industrial Officer.
He moved to Zenith in January of this 12 months in a transfer that noticed Zenith CEO Julien Tornare transfer to TAG Heuer, and TAG Heuer CEO Frédéric Arnault tackle a brand new place as CEO of LVMH Watches (and who, as of final week, additionally sits on LVMH’s Board of Administrators). De Clerck has an in depth working relationship with each males, calling Tornare a “nice colleague in addition to an excellent buddy,” and Arnault, “a very good enterprise companion” with whom he “speaks nearly daily,” and meets in particular person a couple of times every week. As de Clerck places it, “We work properly collectively.”
When Julien Tornare took over Zenith in 2017, the model was in a really completely different place than it’s now. It could be straightforward to say it was flagging, and Tornare was hand-picked by trade legend Jean-Claude Biver, then the shepherd of LVMH watches, to show the tide and stir the model — one thing he did in a giant means. In slightly below seven years, Tornare greater than doubled Zenith’s gross sales, rethought most of the model’s touchpoints, and refocused its product line.
Now, de Clerck is properly conscious that he has a distinct job to do. “I feel the best way I see it’s Julien has woken up that sleeping magnificence — he woke her up. The subsequent section of the model is to place that sleeping magnificence on its toes, after which to have it work and run. So it’s a distinct job. It’s a distinct method, completely different job, completely different issues, however completely different alternatives as properly.”
In some ways, now’s the right second for transition at Zenith. The model has seen a gentle stream of hits over the previous couple of years, and subsequent 12 months is poised to be a giant one, with Zenith celebrating its one hundred and sixtieth anniversary, one thing which affords de Clerck loads to play with.
“Zenith is a model that’s celebrating 160 years subsequent 12 months. It’s a model that has a variety of potential, pedigree, DNA, and — most significantly — historical past. And when you possibly can depend on a model that has round 160 years of historical past, it’s enjoyable, as a result of the tales are there. You simply should take away the mud and discover the story that you just’re on the lookout for.”
Unsurprisingly, de Clerck is already wanting in the direction of that celebration, “I’m working exhausting on one thing new subsequent 12 months, which clearly I like, as a result of it’s very distinctive, and we’re producing very small portions and all that. And, I can’t inform you way more, however subsequent 12 months we’re celebrating our one hundred and sixtieth 12 months and we’ll provide you with one thing that the collectors will probably be very, very, very proud of.”
Anniversary watches are nothing new within the watch world, or for Zenith. Below Tornare, the model took full benefit of the fiftieth anniversary of the El Primero motion in 2019 to launch a complete slate of watches that helped set the stage for the model’s present catalog. However speaking with de Clerck for an hour, you stroll away with the sense that none of that is bravado or a carried out enthusiasm. De Clerck believes within the historical past of Zenith, and the energy of the model’s archive.
“You realize, after I joined Zenith, I assumed I knew the model,” he informed me. “I didn’t know something concerning the model. The primary day, the second day I went into that archive and met with the archivist and the folks in control of all of the historical past – I used to be flabbergasted by what I heard. I couldn’t consider it. And I assumed I knew. However I began calling mates, I stated, ‘Are you aware that Zenith has this, have you learnt that?’ I didn’t know that. I found a lot.”
De Clerck is happy to place his stamp on that historical past, however he’s not doing it alone. Whether or not discussing Frédéric Arnault or his workforce at Zenith, de Clerck is evident that he’s trying to collaborate. “I’m telling you, we’re blessed with a very good workforce. We’ve got good folks round us. That’s true. That’s my philosophy, I don’t work on my own. What you see is me, however what you don’t see is my govt committee. Sure, I’m the CEO. Sure, I handle the model, however I don’t handle the model alone.”
In fact, de Clerck understands that sooner or later a choice needs to be made and that that accountability rests with nobody however him. “On the finish of the day, the job of a CEO is to determine, and I’ve no downside deciding,” he defined, “I can do this, however when you have got a pondering course of and you’ve got folks on the identical desk round you which might be your folks, your group who desires the identical factor on the finish of the day, that’s what makes it good. And it’s way more enriching.”
An Fanatic’s Appreciation for Enthusiasm
Benoit de Clerck will get enthusiasm. From childhood, de Clerck was “mesmerized” by watches. “It was at all times one thing that I needed to know the way it features,” he says. He would take the casebacks of his father’s watch to take a look at the motion and regardless of taunts from childhood mates that he solely had “grandfathers’ watches,” it was a fascination that by no means went away.
“So I used to be at all times targeted. How can this work? And if you open a mechanical watch, it’s like having a automotive urgent on the gasoline endlessly as a result of it turns on a regular basis. It’s at all times on the transfer and at all times on the go like a automotive and it by no means stops. The one means for it to cease is when the spring releases and I discovered this very passionate at the moment.”
De Clerck has by no means outgrown this pleasure, to the purpose that, at Watches & Wonders this 12 months (his first as a model CEO), he ran afoul of the safety workforce at Palexpo earlier than the present even opened on the primary morning. “I used to be so excited that I arrived on the sales space earlier than all people else.”
Considering his workforce would already be within the sales space, working to organize for the opening of the present, de Clerck let himself in. “I received into the sales space, opened the door, and I hear just a little bzzzzz. I stated, okay, possibly one thing, you realize, there’s nothing fallacious.” So walked into the again room of the sales space, solely to seek out that none of his workforce was there both, after which headed again into the primary part of the sales space.
“I got here again, it was 7:05… I’m going again and I see all the safety folks working across the sales space and all that with canine and say ‘Oh my God, what’s occurring right here?’ They usually stated ‘Sir, what are you doing right here?’”
De Clerck shortly realized that nobody, not even model workers, had been allowed into the constructing till 7:30. “I stated, yeah, however I assumed my workforce was within the again. They stated, ‘No, no, no. Give us your ID, give us your paper, your cross’ and so forth and so forth. They usually needed to take my image — it created a giant chaos on the primary day of Watches and Wonders.”
It’s the type of state of affairs most would discover mortifying, and, although he informed the story with a smile on a relaxed day in New York, in all probability didn’t assist with the unavoidable nerves that include entering into the limelight for the primary time.
“I’ll be very sincere with you, I used to be a bit anxious. The primary couple of hours, I used to be very anxious, however fortunately I used to be very busy with journalists, with clients, and all that. And I stepped out into the widespread space at round 11 o’clock and I felt that vibe, that noise. I stated, bingo, that’s it. We’re on. And at that second, I by no means appeared again. I imply. the vitality, the vibes, all the pieces was appropriate.”
Transferring ahead, de Clerck is trying to capitalize on that vitality, and he is aware of he can’t do this with out lovers. “We’re very near collectors, we hearken to them. I do know a variety of collectors, I hearken to them. I like to satisfy them. I don’t meet them sufficient, they usually’re essential in our discussions as a result of we share loads, they usually share loads as properly.”
For Zenith, putting the best steadiness between the collectors and lovers who comply with the model devotedly, and making the model accessible to new collectors is a crucial information rail, and is one thing de Clerck takes severely, particularly within the US, which he acknowledges as a essential marketplace for Zenith.
