Yawn?

Like the Zenith Elite Ultra Thin 681 that I showed you back in March, these new Zenith “Captain” watches are the latest offering in Zenith’s Elite collection.   As you can see the watches are, well, plain.  The $3,000-$4,000 price tag is not out of line for a watch with an in-house movement (as is the case here), but I’m just not feeling the love for this watch at such a price.  Perhaps there is a subtle sophistication that I am missing.  Or not.  Feel free to weigh-in with a comment.

Zenith Elite Captain Central Seconds

40mm case (stainless steel or rose gold), sapphire display back, water resistance 50 meters, automatic Zenith caliber Elite 670.

If I were going to buy a Zenith, I’d much prefer something like the Zenith El-Primero Striking 1/10 Chronograph. Granted, the Striking 1/10 is at least 2x-3x the price of the Elite Captain, but I find it many times more interesting than the watch shown here.

Double Bubble…

Here’s a special look at the new Zenith Christophe Colomb — an absolutely stunning new limited edition, high-horology piece from Zenith.  Named after the famous world explorer Christopher Columbus, the design of this watch is phenomenal as it prominently features a glass globe which encloses a gyroscope-balanced regulator.  The globe, or double-bubble as see it, protrudes above both the top and bottom of the case in a visually captivating manner.  With a price of $209,000 and limited production of 250 pieces, this watch is all about Zenith showing off its horological skills, and I think it has succeeded on this one.  Have a look:

Zenith Christophe Colomb

side view:

As I alluded to above, the watch’s regulating mechanism features prominently beneath a protruding dome both on the dial and caseback.  The mechanism is kept horizontal at all times through a clever Cardan suspension system, a mechanism commonly found in gyroscopes whose origins date back to the early 1500s – history buffs can read more about Gernolamo Cardano here.  The Cardan suspension allows the rotation of an object in multiple dimensions.  This will surely provide its owner with hours of entertainment in hands-on exploration of the laws of physics.

Available in a 45mm rose or white gold case, the watch dial features the hours and minutes (12 o’clock), the self-regulating gyroscopic module (6 o’clock position), a small seconds subdial (9 o’clock), and a power reserve indicator (3 o’clock) — seen here on the white gold version:

The movement is the manual wind Zenith Academy 8804 with a unique gyroscopic system that ensures perfect horizontal positioning of the regulating organ housed in a gyroscopic cage made of 166 components, 10 conical-geared wheels (with 6 spherical wheels) & 6 ball bearings.  Power reserve is 50 hours.

The watch is available in two metals — Rose Gold (Reference 18.2210.8804/01.C631 ) and White Gold (Reference 65.2210.8804/01.C630).

The only thing I am uncertain about is how exactly does this watch sit on the wrist?  Does the double-bubble design cause trouble in this regard?  I admit, I’m quite curious.

Overall an exciting watch that continues Zenith’s successful 2010.  By the way, if you haven’t already seen them, you will want to have a look at two other exciting watches introduced by Zenith this year in a “return-to-the-roots” strategy for the brand — the Zenith Ultra Thin Elite 681 and the Zenith El-Primero Foudroyante Chronograph.

Classically handsome…

Two new Zenith watches presented at Baselworld this year really made a fine impression on me and many other watch enthusiasts collectors.  Seems that Zenith has made a bit of a return to the “classic” and “timeless” designs that it is known for, and I think the brand will be handsomely rewarded in the marketplace for these new watches.  The first watch is the El Primoro 1/10th second foudroyante – which you can check out here.  The second model is this new “ultra-thin” watch.  Simple and elegant, it is an ideal dress watch:

Zenith Elite 681 Ultra Thin

40mm case housing ultra-thin (3.81 mm) Elite 681 self-winding calibre with 50 hrs power reserve

18 carat rose gold (pictured) or stainless steel with sapphire crystal display back.  comes on an alligator strap with matching metal buckle

El Primero coming on strong in 2010, 1/10th second at a time…

Zenith is not a watch I cover much on this blog mostly because I find their watches in recent years to be much less than impressive.  Seems this is changing a bit with new Zenith CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour, on board since mid-2009.  I dare say that he may have a winner on his hands with this new Zenith El Primero Foudroyante 1/10th Chronograph.  I think that this watch just goes to show that if you stick with what you know and do best, well, good things will happen:

The movement of this watch has been designated the “El Primero 4052 B automatic calibre” and it has what is known as a “foudroyante” function, in this case a 1/10th second.  If you are not familiar with the term, “foudroyante” is also known as a “Jumping Seconds” function and on this watch it works like this:  the foudroyante hand (the primary/red hand on this watch) makes a complete rotation in just 10 seconds as opposed to 60 with a normal seconds hand.   This explains why on the outer edge of the dial you see 10 seconds instead of 60 which enables readings to within 1/10th of second.  The watch consists of a 42mm diameter case and will be available in rose gold or stainless steel.  Water-resistant to 100 meters, and sapphire crystal on top and bottom.

As an aside, if you want some good watch history, you should read up on the El Primero movement – it is legendary!  First introduced on January 10, 1969….been in many popular/famous watches ever since!

BASELWORLD 2010 is coming soon.  You can see all the hot new pre-releases on Perpetuelle.com’s Official Baselworld 2010 Forum right now!  And many many more when the event starts on March 18th.  Just click here!

Challenging Environment for LVMH Watches; Outlook Still Murky as Consumer Demand Remains Uncertain and Retail De-Stocking Continues

LVMH, a world leader in luxury goods, recently reported its results for the first half of 2009.  In keeping our savvy readers here at First In Watches informed on all things watches (leading luxury and/or high-end watches, that is), we offer here our quick review and analysis of  LVMH’s watch division performance.

As a quick refresher, LVMH is owner of the following watch brands:  Tag Heuer, Hublot, and Zenith.  It also received very limited watch revenue contribution from its jewelry brands, Dior and Chaumet.

First let’s allow the figures to speak for themselves:

LVMH  “Watches and Jewelery” Division Results

Ouch! LVMH attributes the sales decline primarily to destocking across the retail sector – which is not surprising as all retail has experienced this.  Softer demand is also a factor – remember, Swiss watch exports were -37% in the 1H, with the U.S. market down 57%.  Profit margins are also (and not surprisingly) being crunched.  According to Jean-Jacques Guiony, LVMH  CFO, this was in part a result of order cancellations.  Double ouch!

A closer examination of the figures indicates that some of LVMH’s brands are faring better than others.  LVMH reports (and we read between the lines):

• Market share gain at TAG Heuer – “successful Aquaracer 500 launch; success of 40th Anniversary Monaco” (read:  although our sales are down we are doing better than our competitors)
• Good resilience at Hublot – “success of Big Bang line; new manufacture in Nyon”  (read:  Hublot is faring much better than most in this environment; there are high hopes on Hublot’s new movement coming in 2010 (as JC Biver revealed to us in our Baselworld Interview))
• Zenith – refocus on classic lines (read:  Zenith has completely lost its way and it’s time to get back to basics)

 The outlook for the remainder of 2009 was also very cautious – consumer deman is uncertain, and inventory de-stocking at the retail level is still stabilizing. 

If you have any thoughts of your own on LVMH watch brands, feel free to leave a comment.

Only Watch is a charity auction of unique watches created by many of the most important watch brands in Switzerland. This exceptional event is held every two years in Monaco during the Monaco Yacht Show and is under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert 11. All the proceeds from Only Watch go to support research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The next Only Watch auction is organized in close collaboration with Patrizzi & Co and the Monaco Yacht Show, and will take place on 24 September 2009.

Participating brands include Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, BNB Concept, Bovet Fleurier, Breguet Montres, Cartier, Corum Montres, De Bethune, Delacour, Franck Muller, Frédérique Constant, Glashütte Uhrenbertrieb, Hermès, Hublot, Jaquet Droz, Louis Vuitton, Maximilian Büsser & Friends, Mont Blanc, Omega, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Richard Mille, Swatch, Tag Heuer, Tourneau Timepieces, Ulysse Nardin, Urwerk, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Zenith International.

Below is a mosaic of their “pieces uniques”  – you can view larger images and a quote from each respective brand about their 2009 “Only Watch” contribution HERE.