Zenith’s Mechanical Stars
Nov 22, 2004
Since Zenith’s purchase by LVMH, Thierry Nataf, the brand’s CEO, has given a fresh look to the venerable watch company. Although recognized for its excellence in the domain of the mechanical movement, most notably the famous El Primero chronograph movement, Zenith had lost its sparkle over the years. Nataf began by restoring that sparkle with....

Feature: Edge of Time
Aug 02, 2004
High Torquology The tourbillon-chronograph combination is one of the flashiest complications and one that is much coveted by collectors. But when Zenith decided to try its hand, it faced a dilemma: How could it marry its signature high-frequency El Primero chronograph movement to a notoriously fragile tourbillon construction? The El Primero achieves....

New Management at Péquignet
Jul 26, 2004
Thirty years after he founded the company that bears his name in Morteau, near the Swiss border, and carved out a niche among the major watch names, Emile Péquignet decided to retire and looked for someone to take over the company. A native of Morteau where his family owned a watch manufacture, Didier Leibundgut was dreaming of buying a young,....

Wardrobe: Wheeler Dealer
Dec 01, 2003
The newest store in Chicago furrier Hana K’s rapidly growing signature chain is not only the smallest, it is also the most unconventional. The tiny boutique is sandwiched between a gold neoclassical pillar and an elaborate staircase railing on the mezzanine of Chicago’s Bentley Gold Coast auto dealership. Although the setting is unusual, in this....

Features: The Real Deal
Apr 01, 2003
Vacheron Constantin's Le Grande Classique. (Click image to enlarge) The silver lining of this controversial topic is that as collectors’ watchmaking knowledge grows, so does their passion for complicated watches. And if much ado is made of the most tangled complexity and tiniest detail . . . well, these are watches we’re talking about after all. A. Lange....

Nataf is New Zenith President
Jan 01, 2002
LVMH has appointed Thierry Nataf president of Zenith, a Swiss producer of watches and watch movements, effective Jan. 1, 2002. Nataf was previously the company's chief executive officer. Nataf replaces François Manfredini, who has moved up to become vice president of watch movements for LVMH. He will be in charge of coordinating the watch movements....

LVMH Up, Watches and Jewelry Down
Sep 01, 2001
LVMH (Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton), one of the world's leading luxury product groups, said in July that it expects to post a 12% gain in consolidated sales for the first half of 2001, for a total of 5.6 billion euros (almost US$4.8 billion). Nearly all of LVMH's divisions showed sizeable gains, except for the watches and jewelry division and the wines....