The Art of Innovation and Legacy at Zenith Watches with Romain Marietta

What draws a rebellious watchmaker to defy the odds and preserve a legendary timepiece against all directives? Join me as I welcome Romain Marietta, the Chief Product Officer of Zenith Watches, to unravel the captivating history and cutting-edge innovation behind one of Switzerland's most iconic brands. We journey through the hallowed halls of the Zenith Watch Factory, where traditional craftsmanship meets modern technology, and uncover the inspiring tale of Charles Vermot's audacious effort to save the El Primero watch movement. With every tick of the clock, you'll gain a deeper understanding of how Zenith skillfully honors its storied legacy while innovating for the future.

Our conversation ventures into the heart of Zenith's collections, exploring how the brand artfully balances its timeless DNA with bold new designs. Romain and I discuss the strategic focus on Zenith's four key collections—Defy, Chronomaster, Pilot, and Elite—highlighting the relaunch of the Pilot collection and ambitious plans for the Elite in celebration of the brand's 160th anniversary. We dive into the unique craftsmanship involved in producing high-frequency movements, shedding light on the passion and precision that set Zenith apart from its peers. As we navigate through the world of luxury watch production, you'll discover the emotional connection that fuels both creators and collectors alike.

Finally, we explore the challenges and triumphs of reviving vintage watch calibers, offering a sneak peek into a special project for Zenith’s 160th anniversary. Romain shares the intricate details of translating historical designs into modern masterpieces, using advanced technology to enhance efficiency and performance. We wrap up with heartwarming stories of personal connections and loyalty that demonstrate why Zenith continues to inspire devotion from watch enthusiasts worldwide. Whether you're a seasoned collector or a new admirer, this episode promises to ignite your passion for the art of watchmaking while offering a glimpse into the future of a brand that never ceases to surprise.

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Episode Transcript

Romain Marietta (00:00):
It's dark.
Here in Switzerland it'ssnowing in Lille-Loc.
Oh yeah, yeah it's snowing Likewe have now almost one feet.

Blake Rea (00:10):
Oh my god, yeah, yeah , alright, let's get rolling
here.
Welcome everybody to anotherepisode of Lonely Wrist.
Sitting in front of me is noneother than Roman Marietta, the
Chief Product Officer for ZenithWatches.
Welcome.

Romain Marietta (00:28):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you, Blake.
That's my pleasure Second timewe're doing it.

Blake Rea (00:34):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, the first time was in person at the
factory and thank you so muchfor giving me a lovely tour,
which everybody I do have haveto say if you can ever make it
to switzerland, you have tocheck out their factory.
They do some tours, uh, theyreally show you what watchmaking

(00:55):
is about and uh, and it was, itwas amazing because I didn't
really know this, so I got there, but you guys are kind of the
first one.
You see everybody talking aboutin-house, this in-house.
You guys were the first reallybrand to kind of bring
everything together under onemanufacturing compound.

(01:16):
Yeah, absolutely.

Romain Marietta (01:17):
That was one of the main ideas of our founder
Georges Fajard.
He wanted really to establishmaybe the first idea of what
should be a manufacturer.
I mean, he was very muchinspired by what was happening
in the US, specifically withFord, with the industrialization

(01:39):
of cars assembling, and thenalso what happens at Valtam and
Elgin, so he wanted also tocreate this kind of manufacturer
Everybody, everyone, everysingle craftsmanship in one roof
.
So, yeah, we were one of thefirst real manufacturers and

(01:59):
ever since we have tried to staylike this absolutely.

Blake Rea (02:03):
Yeah, I mean.
Something I noticed is,obviously I was kind of strapped
for time and I'm sure youremember I was just like here,
there, everywhere, but you guyshave, I think you guys have what
is it like?
17 different buildings orsomething like that.

Romain Marietta (02:16):
Yeah, 18.
Yeah, you remember.

Blake Rea (02:19):
Yeah, I mean it was.
I think I went in like three ofthem so I didn't get the full
experience.

Romain Marietta (02:26):
A lot of them are empty in reality still, but
we could potentially grow and beas we were in, let's say, in
the late 50s, beginning of the60s something like a thousand
people working at Zenith at thattime and now we are 250.

(02:46):
So it's a different bit of adifferent story.

Blake Rea (02:49):
It was really cool to kind of see like the Defy Lab.
I thought was incredible Justthe way that you guys put
watches through production.
You know how you break them upinto base plates and then you
know the base plates go to likea designated team of watchmakers
and they kind of see it through.
I thought it was a very kind ofintuitive way of thinking about

(03:14):
watch assembly and production.
Is that something that you guyshave preserved throughout the
course of your history or isthat something that you guys
have recently tried to kind offorwardly think about how to
develop and assemble watches ina modern idea?

Romain Marietta (03:34):
No, it has always been this philosophy that
we tried to follow.
As I said, we have been amanufacturer since day one.
We have been founded here.
We never moved.
We are still in the samelocation buildings, of course.
We developed it, we restored itand we have been one of the

(03:58):
first manufacturers to open thedoors to public visits.
So you can really have a lookof, as you said, like how a
manufacturer look likemanufacturers look like, so you
can really cruise around,discuss with the people who are
working, from the yeah, fromstamping the base plate to up

(04:20):
all the way up to the autoluxury workshop here.
I'm looking at it because it'sreally next to me, but you can
really definitely go through andcruise inside the manufacturer
and see really all the differentcraftsmanship, people behind
every single steps of producingand the different people working

(04:47):
behind the.

Blake Rea (04:48):
What creates the value of a watcher yeah,
something I think was probably,I mean the coolest.
Coolest experience for me wasgoing into the attic right I
mean it's always for everyoneeverybody.
Everybody knows this story.
You know you guys have havesuch a unique story about
Charles Vermeule and how he kindof brought the brand back and

(05:13):
saved the brand.
It's just such a cool place tothink about.
When this happened in the 70s,how things were and just the
whole kind of thought processfor mr vermo like was just
insane.
And then, you know, it was kindof a surreal moment when I was

(05:34):
walking through and I wasfilming so you guys could go
check out the youtube which weneed more views on.
Um, it was just kind of surrealto see.
I mean, it's like you guyshaven't even undusted it,
there's just dust.
It's just like you guys arepreserving it in the most
accurate way.

Romain Marietta (05:53):
Yeah, we tried to keep it untouched, as we said
we like to say in thewatchmaking world.
But it's true, I mean it hasbeen preserved like this
watchmaking world.
But it's true, I mean it'sthat's been preserved, like this
and and and it's.
We wanted to keep it as much, Imean, as authentic as as
possible, and that's why itlooks exactly the same, stuck,

(06:14):
stuck a bit in in times likethis.
Uh, so when you have the chanceto go there and then you also
see the movie, you see how evenCharles Vermeul is explaining
what he made, because it was aTV reportage explaining his
rebel act.

(06:34):
So he's just explaining what hedid and he got emotional.
And, of course, when you lookat this, you start to get
emotional too, because it'ssuper authentic and it's just
like a human being story of aguy who just, uh, just couldn't
stand the fact that peoplewanted to throw everything away

(06:55):
what, what he, what he worked onfor so many years and and, and,
yeah, the, the, the rebel act,he, he did just basically save
the El Primero.
So the story I mean, everybodyknows that, but it's really cool
to go in the attic and it'sjust super authentic and we like
this story and this place.

(07:16):
Of course, everybody that comesto the manufacturer said
normally that it's the highlight.

Blake Rea (07:25):
I think it was one of the top highlights for me.
But additionally, at the timewhen we had met, you know, I
asked you what watch you werewearing and at the time it was
unreleased.
But now the zenith kernermasteroriginal triple calendar, which
also was a watch that MrVermeule like, like had right,

(07:51):
that was a watch that you guyshad kind of revived.

Romain Marietta (07:56):
Yeah, when, when?
Yeah, when he got retired.
He has been gifted a triplecalendar and and we we had the
chance to also get our hands onone of the prototypes that he
was wearing, that he gave to hisson, michel, who is still, of
course, we are still in touchwith him.

(08:17):
So now we have it at the museumand it's one of the 25
prototypes ever created.
Of the 25 prototype evercreated, so let's say, the wear
watches that were created totest, to validate the principle,
the function, the functions ofthe triple calendar back then in
the 70s.

(08:37):
So it's an incredible piece.

Blake Rea (08:41):
So obviously let's talk about you being a chief
product officer.
I mean, it seems like when Iwent through the attic, you guys
had a lot of the tools.
I mean you guys have littlerows right With all the caliber
like stamping machinery andthings like that.
How hard is it for you?
I mean, you guys, it doesn'tseem like maybe I'm speaking out

(09:03):
loud here, but it doesn't seemlike it's very challenging for
you guys to.
Doesn't seem like maybe I'mspeaking out loud here, but it
doesn't seem like it's verychallenging for you guys.
But okay, look cool, let's justlook at our archive of
movements and then let's designa watch around it.
Like how did what's the, thethought process like when it?

Romain Marietta (09:16):
comes, it's it's.
It's, of course, fantastic whenyou are in our position at the
product development team and Imean we're having such a history
, legacy, patrimony.
Of course, you just need,obviously, to open the books,
the archives and see what'sinside.
We like to stay respectful andwe want to pay tribute also to

(09:41):
what the predecessors have made,but we also need to build the
future.
But you can also create a newdesign, but inspire yourself
from from from the past and whathas been done, because, of
course, it gives value, content,storytelling to to a product
that you want to release and, ofcourse, people likes that and
it gives value and and andvaluation to a product.

(10:03):
So we are very lucky, we arefeeling very lucky to be able to
do that.
We have nothing to invent inreality, and it's something that
I cherish, of course, because Imean having the chance to be
able to see in the archives, butalso, in a way, to try to twist

(10:26):
it, not to reproduce exactlywhat has been done, but being
respectful, of course, but alsotrying to establish the brand
for the next 160 years.
We are going to celebrate 160years next year and we want to.
I mean, the brand will, ofcourse, survive us and this is
what we have to work on.

(10:47):
So, as a creative guy me and myteam, I mean it's just a
blessing to be able to work withsuch a brand, with such a
ministry.

Blake Rea (11:00):
So you said being respectful is very important to
you and your team.
You know, obviously.
You know, when I look back atthe Zenith catalog and you look
at some of the collections fromlike the mid 2000s, you guys
kind of had what I wouldconsider a deviation.
You know, you guys were gettinga little experimental, a little

(11:20):
crazy.
So when you say respectful,what does that mean for you and
your team?

Romain Marietta (11:29):
well, it's going it's being faithful to the
roots, to the, the dna, thevalue.
I mean also the designlanguages that could have been
created in the past and thatmaybe, yes, somehow, as you said
, in the mid 2000s, I mean, Iwas.

(11:49):
I'm there since 2006, so I canalso discuss about this topic.
And when I joined, it's truethat we had the DeFi collection,
but it didn't look at all atwhat we have now in the
collection.
It was just creation, notreally looking at the patrimony.
I mean, it's, it's a way toproceed, it's a way to also try

(12:10):
to build a new aesthetic andyour new languages, but at the
end it didn't really succeedbecause it's it's not really
faithful, it doesn't speak thetruth, it doesn't have the DNA,
the values, and that's probablywhy it didn't, let's say, stood

(12:31):
the test of time.
And for me, the secret recipe isto stay true, of course, to the
DNA, because otherwise people,they will not, I would say they
will not like it, they will not,I would say they will not like
it, they will not support it andthe client will not understand
it.
So that's what we have worked alot over the last six, seven

(12:55):
years at least, even also beforeyeah, to remain and to maybe
come back to our genuine essence, roots, find the right design,
aesthetics and languages thatare correct and and that speaks
to the, to the people that willspeak in the future, also to

(13:15):
build a collection and in thenext developments for the future
.
So this is what we have workeda lot over the the last yeah,
let's 10 years, but more in thelast six, seven years.

Blake Rea (13:28):
It seems like recently you guys have kind of
been putting your eggs in theWell, if you look at your entire
portfolio right, you have theDeFi, the Chronomaster, the
Pilot, the Elite, and it seemslike you guys have kind of
stayed in that defy, chrono,master, pilot like collection

(13:49):
and the elite collection or atleast from what I've seen.
I could be wrong um seems likeit's a collection that you guys
are kind of, uh, are discovering.
Is that accurate?
Because I haven't seen you guyshave a massive Elite release
recently.

Romain Marietta (14:08):
Yeah, for the time being.
Yes, we have four collections.
This is what we wanted.
Once again, when I joined 18years ago, we used to have more
than 15 different collections,so it was absolutely not
sustainable in reality.
Too many references, too manythings to support, too many

(14:30):
products to support and then toomany releases whatsoever.
So the whole idea was tostreamline the collection.
Defi, chronomaster are obviouslythe two main pillars strategic
pillars 75% to 80% of theturnover is made on these two
collections, but, of course,pilot is important.

(14:50):
Pilot has been relaunched,refreshed last year.
It's a very importantcollection for us, historically
important because we have thename belonging to us since more
than 20 years.
We have a huge legacy in that,and the Elite Collection was
basically one of the first werefreshed in 2020, but it was
just before the COVID happened,so it didn't really, let's say,

(15:11):
have the chance to establishitself.
We are working on something new.
We are going to come back nextyear strongly with something
totally new to replace the elitecollection, to start with a new
beginning.
It's very important for us andwe want to do it with the 160th

(15:36):
anniversary, so we'll come backwith one very strong product
that will set the path and thetrend the the coming years in
that let's say timelessness,timeless dressy collection with
a new approach, new signature,more auto focus, so higher

(15:58):
finishings, different pricepositioning.
So a lot of things are going,are going to change but once
again it's complementary withwhat we have with DeFi, let's
say maybe the more modern one,chronomaster really the roots,
the DNA of the El Primero, allabout chronograph.
The pilot is, I mean, it'sreally a tool watch.
It's a good platform forcreating also collaboration.

(16:20):
And let's say the new elitecollection with the new naming
will also be the start of a new,new beginning, a new era yeah,
the the portfolio is a very Iwould say it tight it integrated
portfolio.

Blake Rea (16:37):
Because you do have the defy collection, where you
guys are kind of having funright, you're saying, hey, look,
here's zenith, right here, herewe're fun, right.
And then the chrono mastercollection where you guys kind
of stick to your historic, uhlike concepts and designs and

(16:57):
and you kind of just, uh, youremain faithful right to history
in that collection, exactly, um.
And now, with the pilot release, which I'm a huge fan of, the
pilot, I mean the pilot is anincredible watch, especially the
, the flyback with the, uh, thebig date, like that's a watch
that I mean even just thethree-hander you know as a watch

(17:20):
that I just want to have in my,in my collection at some point.
But but no, I mean, I wasgenuinely surprised when you
guys especially if you look atyour older pilots watches like
the ones that that were thepredecessors to these, I mean
they're totally different.

Romain Marietta (17:37):
Totally, yeah, another world.
It's a totally extreme, theextreme version of what we had.
I mean, it was very much morevintage-oriented.
The inspiration came from the30s, 40s our board chronometer,
altimeter, so some of the first,let's say, deck or board

(18:00):
instruments that we had.
We had it for almost 10 years,11 years.
We restarted pilot in 2012, andwe refreshed it in 2023.
And it's a new, modern take.
So it's completely different,the approach we really wanted to
come with something totally new.

(18:22):
I agree with you.
I think it's a very cool, it'svery cool pieces that
unfortunately, not everyone isknowing.
So I mean it's up to us also tomake it happen, to support.
But obviously these are reallycool product and for the time
being, we only have, let's say,two movements.

(18:43):
So we have four different skews, four different references and
we just released the, the, theporter, the porter, yoshida yeah
and in the future we will, wewill develop it.
We want also to come with moremovements or new developments,
but it takes a bit more.
It takes some time to createthe, the movement that we want.

(19:04):
But it's true, it's a fantasticcollection, and defy, as you
said, is a playground devicewhere you can really also work
with different materials,combination of materials.
You can also try some stuffwith with the dyes, the
texturization, the, the.
You can work with sapphire,skeletonization.
A lot of things are possible.

(19:26):
We have the interchangeablestrap system, which also allows
us to play and to let also theclient play with the watch and
Chronomaster is really about theEl Primero, so we don't want to
change it.
We are very much working withthe three colors.
I'm wearing the A386, thegodfather of the old.
There's 55 years of differencebetween the one that you are

(19:49):
wearing and the one I have, butthey are still remaining very
faithful to it.
This we will keep.
Next year, with the new eracoming, with the rejuvenation of
the Timeless Collection, we'regoing to open a new chapter for
the, for the collection yeah, Ithis.

Blake Rea (20:11):
After I left the factory or the manufacturer, I
may I?
I said I need to get a watch tolike mark this event in my life
, and I literally went back andforth.
I was on the chronomasteroriginal, I was on the
chronomaster sport.
Um, I think I mean, obviously,I've been wanting a daytona

(20:34):
forever, right, but I just feltlike this was the, was the more,
uh, versatile.
Maybe that's, at least for mylife, this is the more versatile
solution and you know what Iactually like about this is so I
could only get one right.

(20:54):
I can only get a Daytona, I canonly get a Chronomaster Sport
right or a Chronomaster Original.
And look at what I have.
But to me it seemed likeeverybody has a daytona right,
you know, and this was the morewatch nerd way to go, you know,
like, like you can walk, youknow, into a boardroom and just

(21:16):
see a random guy who doesn'tknow anything about watches have
a daytona, but only a truewatch guy is gonna be wearing
this this.

Romain Marietta (21:25):
Yeah, I mean, it's a fact.
There's a lot of people wearingRolex in our world and
obviously, if you are going to adinner, an exhibition in a
restaurant whatsoever and youlook at the wrist, you have a
lot of chance and probabilitythat people will wear a Rolex

(21:47):
Daytona or Submariner orDay-Date or whatsoever.
So, yeah, I mean, we all wantto have this kind of successful
product.
Obviously, I mean, it's not anenvy, it's not, but it has to be
an ambition to, of course, havethis icon, an iconic product
such as the Daytona is.
So when we have decided tocreate our own take on what

(22:11):
could be a sports chronographwith our own legacy, with our
own recipe, we deep dive in ourarchives, archives.
We, we, we try as much as wecan to create the watch, the way
we think we are looking andwhat we can bring to the market

(22:32):
with our own specificity, withour own feature.
So, yeah, the chronomaster isthis kind of recipe.
A lot of people I mean a lot ofthings have been said to on the
chronomasters, on thechronomaster sports, um, that it
can look like a Daytona.
Obviously, I mean, people arecomparing.
It's very human to compare withwhat we know and with such an

(22:56):
iconic product, a landmark, abenchmark, specifically in the
watchmaking industry.
Of course people are comparingto the Daytona, but we have our
own specificity the specificbezel, specific scale, specific
way of displaying thechronograph, the time we have,
the date we have an open caseback.
Yeah, a lot of things that wetry to make it our own way and

(23:21):
faithful to what we have doneover the last 55 years in the
sports segment chronographproduct.

Blake Rea (23:30):
Well, arguably, if you look at the modern daytona,
the modern interpretations, itreally comes back down to like.

Romain Marietta (23:40):
Rolex has to thank you for that, because if
you look at, I prefer that yousaying you saying than me, but I
agree with you, I totally agreewith you.
I mean, if you look at thepre-Daytona or the Paul Newman
ones and then the modern one,they're totally different,
because they also have work withthe El Primero that it does

(24:01):
look like this now, work withthe el primero that it does
looks like this now, uh.
So we just I always said, uh,in private, joke, unofficially,
that we, we helped them a bit toaccess to the throne yeah, I
mean humble way very humble waysomething that um that I had.

Blake Rea (24:19):
Well, I guess you may not be able to answer but as I
was working on um, like some ofmy research for my factory tour,
and we talked about the caliber400 um and how I mean you
supplied rolex with thatmovement, um, you know, rolex
took the movement essentiallykind of like rebuilt it.

(24:39):
You know they, they did, Ithink they did over I mean it
was like 30, it was over 30different modifications from my
understanding to the movement.
Is that just Rolex being Rolex?
Just so that way they can getaway with it being their?

Romain Marietta (24:59):
own, to get their hands on it, to, let's say
, apply their own way ofthinking of development, of how
it should look like.
I mean, aesthetically they arevery similar.
Technically, they did somechange because obviously they
wanted to industrialize it.

(25:19):
They wanted to create a lot ofwatches, they had the idea to
produce big quantities.
So when you think about this,you have to have an industrial
take on, a movement and we werenot producing as much as they
are, and this is still the casenowadays.

(25:39):
So that's also why they did allthese uh, these uh, these
changes, adaptation.
I'm always giving this, this,this scale or this uh benchmark,
but we are producing the since55 years 1969, 2024.
We are saying that we haveproduced 15,000 on average a

(26:04):
year.
So it doesn't even give you amillion watches in a million El
Primero in 55 years, and it'snot even the annual production
of Rolex.
So it's still very niche, andI'm including what we have
delivered to Rolex in thesefigures.

Blake Rea (26:22):
It's crazy to even think about, because in, in my
opinion, I mean they they tookthe movement in its unique form
right, it was one tenth of asecond and they're like no, like
, let's just slow that down youknow, you know, and it's like I
mean, you guys are really theonly person to stand behind the

(26:45):
one-tenth of it, and now I mean,with the DeFi, the
one-one-hundredth of a secondchronograph.

Romain Marietta (26:51):
Yeah, ifrequency is something that, of
course, is not belonging.
But people are associating theiFrequency with us and we are
fine with it because, I mean, weare mastering it and we like it
and this is the know-how wehave.
But we can see more and morebrands coming on this Grand
Seiko is a good example.

(27:11):
Even Patek did a, let's say,kind of split-second chronograph
tenths of a second.
You also have seen Longines onthat, chopin going eight hertz.
I mean mean, of course, stilllimited production, but we are.
I mean, for us it's a basic,it's a given.

(27:32):
We are working on that since 55years and, yeah, it's one of
our, let's say, core difference.
I mean how you can reallydifferentiate yourself from the
competition, and this is reallyin our DNA and we want to keep
working on that because it'sreally associated with us.

Blake Rea (27:54):
I mean, you guys were doing, you know, high frequency
movements, arguably beforeanybody else.
You know, yeah, we have beenthe first yeah, I mean, it's
like you guys had the theforesight to say, hey look, if a
, if a, if a movement has ahigher frequency is going to be
more accurate, which you know.

(28:15):
A lot of these brands, I meanin the other side and the other
brands that I've seen they'reactually doing the exact
opposite.
They, they're slowing thewatches down.
I'm not going to say names.

Romain Marietta (28:28):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, with all the
different frequencies, you canbe very precise, very accurate.
It depends the way you arebuilding the movement,
developing it, the way you areassembling it, the way you are
setting it, the time you arespending to set the time and the
accuracy of a watch, dependingalso on the scale of the
production quantities that youare doing.

(28:50):
I mean we can see other brandsworking on that.
Most of them, they are doingsome very small quantities.
We are also doing very smallquantities in reality, compared
to the big names.
Our annual production is still,and remains still very, uh,
very low compared compared tothem and people just maybe tend

(29:12):
to forget about this.
But I mean, we are notproducing even uh 30 000 watches
.
So it's it's, it's, it's um,it's a small scale, it's an
industrial scale, but it's stillway, way less than Omega, rolex
and the others.

Blake Rea (29:29):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, it's really crazy to think about
it, because I had an argumentwith one of my friends.
And when you think about scale,right, rolex is producing so
many watches and you guys areproducing a very small fraction
of what they're producing.
So, in theory, in theory right,more time, attention and care

(29:58):
would go into assembling that.
I mean arguably right.
This is just a concept, aconstruct of a, of a thought um,
that you guys would put moreattention, time, care, love,
love into one watch versussomebody who's just, you know,
producing millions, you knowyeah, that gives the whole value

(30:23):
to the watch.

Romain Marietta (30:24):
But I mean honestly also, rolex is he's?
He's putting so much ofattention, work, care and and
and and and and.
The qualities, uh, state of theart, I mean there's nothing
about about it.
I mean you are, they're reallyat the level that no one is in

(30:44):
reality in producing watches attheir scale.
In an industrial way of thinking.
So these are the best ones whenyou're producing more than a
million watches a year.
But we, as you said, we try toput a bit more in it, like value
, care, love, passion.

(31:05):
That's uh, that's uh, that'svery important, and history also
.

Blake Rea (31:09):
But holics also has history so something that um,
and I'll probably get murderedfor saying this, but so if
something weird happens to me,you you know, but no.
So, ironically, I got a watchfrom my friend.
We did like a little trade deal.
I had a Panerai I wasn'twearing, he had a Rolex he

(31:32):
wasn't wearing.
So we just traded.
You know, we traded, we keptthem.
Anyways, you know, I'm the typeof guy where once I get my hands
on something I want it to be.
You know, I'm very you and Isee I, I want it to be accurate,
faithful, like I want it, likeI want a new vintage watch.
So what did I do?

(31:54):
Naturally, I sent it to rolexand I was like I was hoping
rolex would service it.
You know, get the because ithad um tritium.
It was an older, you know, watchfrom the 60s, had tritium, so
the lume wasn't working.
Um, I mean, the dial was likediscolored and stuff, you know.
So you know I, I knew whatrolex was gonna do when I sent
it in and I was okay with that.

(32:15):
And some people may say, hey,look, you're ruining the watch,
you're getting rid of the patina, yada.
But I, I wanted it to be like anew vintage watch and rolex
sent it back to me without evenservicing it and uh, and their
reason was we don't have theparts I was like here you are

(32:36):
promising these watches willlast a lifetime, but you can't
even service a 60 yearyear-oldwatch, or you're refusing to,
and to me….

Romain Marietta (32:49):
At least they are honest.
Maybe it was a particular watchthat you had a particular
reference, I don't know.
We also….
Our promise and commitment isalso to try to do this, to be
able be able to restore and andand to refurbish all the watches
that are that that went out ofthe of our workshops.
Um, and sometimes, of course,you you could miss some parts,

(33:11):
but you can also reproduce themfaithfully.
Uh, so I don't know exactlywhat happened with yours but um
this it's also a different story, because I mean they're,
they're, they're way bigger.

Blake Rea (33:22):
It was a 1601 Datejust, which arguably is one
of the most popular Datejustsever made.
This one is I mean, you seethem everywhere, you know.
I mean if you go into yourgrandpa's cupboard he's probably
got a 1601 Datejust laying init.
You know what I mean.

(33:43):
Like come on um, but jokingly tome.
You know that that is somethingthat I take pride in.
You know, I want a watch that Iknow I can carry right and as
the push for in-house, you knowevery, every watch manufacturer
is doing in-house, this in-house, that I get scared as a

(34:04):
consumer Like I want a watchcollection I can hand down to my
children.
You know, the children that areyet to be born sleep at night
knowing in 50 years, 60 years,when I'm long gone, that they'll
be able to accurately take care, you know, or should I say

(34:29):
confidently be able to take careof the, the watches that I,
that I give them you know well,I'm totally in line with, uh,
with your, yeah, with thisphilosophy absolutely, and this
is what we want to also be ableto provide for clients
definitely.
So we talked very briefly andwhen I was, you know, obviously,

(34:49):
like I said, when I was makingmy purchase which, by the way, I
am super happy I can't get it,especially when I go into the
rooms of people who haveDaytonas.

Romain Marietta (35:04):
I wear this.

Blake Rea (35:04):
Please, do it Please do it In our watch club here,
like we'll do a watch event.
There'll be like 20 people thatshow up and like seven or like
nine of them have Daytonas, andthen here I am the only one.
You know.
So I do like that.
Um, you know, so I, I do, I dolike that.

(35:27):
But, um, you know, obviously,when I did a bunch of research
and we talked briefly, um, aboutthe bracelet and I'm sure
people are gonna are gonna askme why didn't I ask you about
the bracelet?
yeah, no problem situation andyou know, you guys have gotten a
lot of, uh, I guess, negativepublicity on the bracelet.
Yeah, um, but you guys areapparently listening, right.

Romain Marietta (35:49):
So no, of course.
I mean we, we, we have heardthe, the, the market, we, we, we
know the, we know the situationobviously, and we know that the
, the, the bracelet, has some,some, some weakness, uh,
specifically on the buckle nomicro-adjustments.
So we are working on it.
We are quite well advanced.

(36:10):
It takes a bit of time, as Isaid off the record to you
before, but I mean we need to goaround all the patterns that
people are specifically Rolexand some others are registering
for buckles, the Rolex bucklesand people don't know it, but it
has so many patterns that it'sreally hard to get around and we

(36:36):
really wanted to createsomething with our own take and
we have found something which wethink is, is, is very cool and
can bring, of course, I mean,improvements to, to, to what we
have now.
So we are working on that.
We are going to be ready in inin, let's say, a year, year and
a half.
Totally.
It will be also possibly aretrofitable for the people who

(37:00):
had the, the, the previousversion, obviously.
I mean this is how also you arebuilding equity, building also
iconicity to your watch.
Keep on improving, and this isalso what we want to do in terms
of design, not only for thebuckles, but also for the
bracelet.
We are working oninterchangeable strap system.

(37:21):
Everything has to be done, it'sjust a matter of time.
All the bracelet?
We are working oninterchangeable strap system.
Everything has to be done.
It's just a matter of time, allthe time.
So, but yeah, we are listeningand we know the situation and we
are going to update this assoon as we can.

Blake Rea (37:34):
Yeah, which, thank you, thank you from me and from
everybody you know.
I think that's also somethingas a consumer, right I?
I mean, we're all consumers.
We all buy products.
Um me being a youtuber I'msorry I'm looking down at my
camera because I'm filming laterum me being a youtuber.

(37:55):
Like you know, once I buy aproduct, there's always that
concern of like will, will thebrand leave me, like, will they
no longer?
You know, like you, you thinkabout like, like apple, right,
when they update the newoperating systems or whatever
like is it going to becompatible on my phone?

(38:15):
So I think a lot about that.
Like, um, you know, will theonce I've made this purchase,
this huge financial purchase,how much further will the brand
support me as a customer?

Romain Marietta (38:29):
It's a totally logic way of thinking.
As you said, we are alsoconsumers.
We are also buying watches.
Personally, I'm a watchcollector.
I'm a geek, like most of youraudience.
I'm really proud to be one ofyou and, of course, I don't want
to be left behind by the brandany brand that I buy and if I'm

(38:51):
working for one brand.
I have the same mindset andobviously we tend to improve
every time we can and to listento the feedbacks, to listen to
the market, to improve everytime we can and to listen to the
feedbacks, to listen to themarket, to try to reach what
people are expecting from us.

(39:11):
And for me that sounds totallylogic and basic.
And we are creating some of theless obsolete product in the
world the watches because theycan be there for the next 200
years and they can still workbecause they're all mechanical
you just need to wind it or youjust need to wear it and it's
totally self-sustainable.

(39:33):
So it's a fantastic product.
But we have to be proud of thisand to keep on improving and
listening.
And I agree that maybe 30 yearsago, 20 years ago, even the
world of watchmaking was maybenot that aware.
Uh, and everything changed withthe internet and people that

(39:54):
can source informationeverywhere.
Most of the people that areentering now the shops are more
aware and have more and are moreknowledgeable than the people
behind the counter.
So you have to be ready and youhave to to to.

Blake Rea (40:06):
You have, you need to have the answers um, something
that I'm curious about and youknow I don't want to take up too
much of your time, I know we'recoming here about 20 minutes
into an hour.
Um, let's talk about somethingthat you know I kind of alluded
to earlier but when I was goingthrough the attic.
I mean, you guys have so manycalibers, you know, and you're

(40:28):
combing through the archivesprobably every day.
Um, are there any like calibersthat you, that you've seen in
the archives, that you'reinterested in, like you?

Romain Marietta (40:40):
say hey, man this is super cool.

Blake Rea (40:43):
Uh, this needs to come back, and if there is, can
you give us a taste?

Romain Marietta (40:50):
no, but of course I mean there are some
that you would want to to, to,to revive, because I mean you
really think that they are.
I mean they have also been veryimportant for the for, for the,
for the history of the brand.
Some have been really hugesteps or a huge part of the big

(41:13):
book of the history of the brandthat I'm thinking about some of
the chronometry ones, andobviously we want to, we would
like to revive some ones, andobviously we would like to
revive some, but you also needto understand that the
investment to reindustrialize amovement from the 40s, 50s, 60s
is huge.
But yeah, obviously this issomething that we are working on

(41:36):
and we will do it in the future.
The first one will come nextyear.
So the teaser is there.
I mean, we are going to comeback with a movement, revive a
movement which is a fantasticone, next year for the 160th
anniversary.
So this is something that wehave worked on for the last four

(41:57):
years now.
So it takes time.
Some are, of course, worth it,some are not.
You said it, we have developedmore than 500 calibers over the
course of the last 160 years.
I mean, obviously we will notbe able to come back with all of
them and we have to select themand some are more important
than the others.

(42:17):
Some are more, let's say, areally landmark one.
But the real, next big thingswill happen next year with the
revival of a Calibre.

Blake Rea (42:35):
Let me kind of I want to peek into your thought
process a little bit further.
So once you guys decide heylook, this caliber is worth it,
we're gonna revive this, um,then what?
Like?
Like, like, what is the processfrom taking a vintage movement
design and modernizing it?

(42:55):
Like, like, how do you guys youknow what I mean like,
obviously you're not just gonnathrow some silicon in there and
call it a day, you know?
Um, but what, what happens froman engineering perspective to
modernize a vintage caliber?
Well, I mean, first of all.

Romain Marietta (43:14):
I mean, obviously you can have a
movement in flesh.
You have to disassemble it.
You, you have to measure everysingle component parts, see how
they have been produced backthen, how they were, I mean, how
it was developed.
Obviously, they were notassisted with computers back
then, so you also have then tototally rebuild it in 3D, so it

(43:36):
takes a lot of time.
So you are starting from papers, from technical plans, and then
you are putting into computersin 3ds and then you, you have
the whole 3d and then you, you,you, you check and you, you see
what you can improve, what couldmake sense, what could be also
um, um, what could have beendone differently a bit, but

(43:58):
still still trying to be a facewith the aesthetics and and and
maybe some of the iconiccomponents.
Or if, for example, you have abig balance wheel, because it
was, it was, it was meant to belike this, I mean you obviously
want to keep it, but you havealso access now to new materials

(44:20):
, to new technologies.
You can do a lot of simulations.
You can simulate a lot ofthings about the gear, trains,
the wear, the tear, which wasnot existing back then.
So there's a lot of things thatyou can do.
You can increase the efficiencyof a movement.
You can work on an increasedpower reserve, for example,

(44:43):
movement.
You can work on the anincreased power reserve, for
example, just because you arejust rethinking the kinetic of
the gear trains and theefficiency of the, the energy
delivery inside the movement.
So this is how we are processing.
And then in terms of design,obviously, when everything is is
is in 3d, but then you canstart to.
You can start to work in theplayground, in the kindergarten,

(45:06):
and then this is the most epicmoment for us, because you can
open the books of the archives,but you can also see what's
happening on the market nowadays, from every single brand, from
low segment to really high hautehorlogerie product, because we
are looking at everything, whatis done now, and you can get

(45:27):
inspiration from a lot of things, but still trying to add your
own DNA.
So this is how we haveprocessed for all the watches
that we have revived, becausefor the time being, we were
reviving models.
We will go one step further byreviving a movement, which has
never happened in the past, butthe last example was maybe the

(45:50):
321 from Omega, but it's notobviously happening quite often
that a brand is reviving amovement.
So this is what we have thoughtcould be a very good idea for
the completion of our collection.

Blake Rea (46:08):
Has there ever been an instance where you guys
decide, okay, cool, here's themovement we're reviving, here's
the watch we're putting it in.
And then you guys start gettinginto it and then by the time
you've completed that, you'relike holy shit, this is a
totally different movement thisis we've made so many changes,
modifications like um, because Iwas in your um, your, your lab.

(46:32):
I don't know what, what youcall it, but your design your
design center where you guyswere.
You know we were clickingthrough the movements and he was
you know breaking it apart andshowing me, um, you know, some
of the significant technicalchanges that you made,
specifically in the pilot, thepilot's watch.
Um, I mean, I can't imaginethat being the only instance
where you're like, by the timeyou get the movement in and

(46:54):
start working on it and revivingit, like it's totally changed
from the early designs to now.

Romain Marietta (47:03):
Yeah, it can happen.
But obviously now with thecomputers, with 3D, with
simulation, you can simulate alot of things prior working on
the real movement in Flash,prior to working on producing
the components and thenassembling them, and before the
movement makes tic-tacs, you cansimulate a lot of things.
You can first evaluate a lot ofthings prior to go to

(47:27):
prototyping, and then there's atheory in computers where a lot
of things are working, and thenyou have the reality where of
course you have to do aprototype, of course you have to
see how it works, of course youhave to make it assembled by
different watchmakers, becausethey are not doing exactly the
same way and and and things canhappen when the, the watch is

(47:47):
totally assembled that youdidn't thought about.
And it's specificallyspecifically happening.
Every time, I mean every timeyou are producing a new movement
, there are some let's say, ayouth problem that are happening
from the time you're I meanmaking.
Making a movement makes, I meandoing Tic Tac like two, three,

(48:09):
four, five, 10, 10 movement.
It's easy.
But then producing at thelarger scale, like 500 of them
or even a hundred of them amonth to be able to deliver in
the market, it's totally adifferent thing.
So, yeah, it market.
It's totally different things,and sometimes we have developed
something we thought it was agood idea and then at the end,
the final rendering, when youhave the watch in your hands,

(48:32):
doesn't give you exactly thefeeling you had before at the
design stage.
You also have to accept thisYou're creating a lot of babies,
but not all of them will becomeadults.

Blake Rea (48:47):
It's exactly the same for movements yeah, um, let's
shift a tiny bit and then I'lllet you go here.
I don't want to spend, you know, I know, I know you.
I don't want you to get snowedin right, I'm already stuck in
the snow.
Okay, all right, all right.
Well, if that's the case, wecan hang out much longer.

Romain Marietta (49:05):
But, jokingly.

Blake Rea (49:08):
You're starting to see the watch market evolve,
right, and what I mean when Isay evolve, you know.
You're starting to see theyounger generations get into
watch collecting, you know, getinto watch collecting, you know.
Um, we've talked to brands, uh,and I think by by now we've
already released that podcast,um, but we talked to um, a brand

(49:36):
that they really made it theirmission to kind of target the
younger, like demographics, likethe Gen Z, um, uh, and to
Zenith, I mean, I don't.
I understand that your customersegment is that of very much
knowledge, right, you guys arethe watch nerds watch brand, you

(49:59):
know.
But do you guys ever seeyourself targeting the newer
watch collectors, the newergenerations?
Is that a priority to you?

Romain Marietta (50:13):
I mean, obviously we have to.
You can't just target peoplewatch aficionados.
Of course we have this fan base.
We have people that know the ElPrimero by heart.
Most of the time the El Primeromovement was even more, let's
say, famous than the branditself.

(50:34):
This is, I would say, when Ijoined the company 18 years ago.
It was accepted and it was whatwe had in terms of audience of
clients, type of clients, whatwe had in terms of audience of
clients, type of clients.
But we wanted, of course, torejuvenate that, to target a
different audience.
This is also why we havecreated the DeFi, the new,

(50:54):
modern take on DeFi, because itwas allowing us to target a
younger clientele, because, Imean, it was more modern in
terms of modern and morecontemporary, but still very
linked to our mechanical,manufactured DNA.
We are a mechanical and amanufactured brand.

(51:17):
Obviously it's a niche inside aniche, if I can say so.
But obviously the whole ideafor every single brand is to
gain risks, market shares and togrow.
Obviously we don't want to comefrom, let's say, 30,000 watches
to 3 million, so it'sabsolutely not the idea.
But obviously, of course, if wecan rejuvenate and have access

(51:42):
to the Gen Z, we are doing itand all the different, let's say
, collaborations we did in thepast with also Felipe Panton,
with Porter.
We also tried to think outsideour own box and industry to
attract different and newclients and obviously we have

(52:06):
achieved that because we havebeen able to now have an average
age of customers at around 40.
And let's say, 18 years ago or20 years ago, it was more a
60-year-old guy, veryknowledgeable about the product
and an aficionado of the.
El primero was on, knowing thebrand and um.

(52:29):
Obviously, of course, it's oneof the priority of the brand to
uh, to um, to have access toyounger clients.
I'm 42.
I would love all my friends toknow my, my, the brand I'm
working to, I'm working for and,and, and, and, and, and and.
The people have the, thewatches that we are creating on
their wrist.
So absolutely it's a priorityand then and we always have this

(52:53):
focus in mind when we work onthe collab, on future marketing
and communication uh program, soobviously it's important, yeah
wait, not all of your friendswear zenith watches.

Blake Rea (53:05):
Most of them, yeah.

Romain Marietta (53:06):
Okay.

Blake Rea (53:07):
I was about to say.

Romain Marietta (53:08):
But it's not an obligation for them and I won't
.
I mean, they will still be myfriends and I'm also wearing
some other brands during theweekend sometimes I mean that's
all a matter of fact.
But because I appreciatewatchmaking and I'm a big, I'm a
collector, I love watches andobviously I'm working for a
brand, I'm I'm the spokespersonof the product development for

(53:29):
the for this brand.
It doesn't I know.
So, um, I mean, I'm I'm a watchlovers and I want also to to to
wear some other watches.
So, yeah, what?

Blake Rea (53:40):
what's your?
What's your favorite zenithwatch ever made, and why?

Romain Marietta (53:50):
I would say the one that I'm wearing, the 386,
is definitely one of the mosticonic watch we have created,
because it's a watch that hasbeen done 55 years ago.
It was one of the firstequipped with the El Primero.
It was the first equipped withthis iconic signature that we

(54:11):
are still using nowadays.
It's the grandfather of themall, where we are still taking a
lot of inspiration.
So this is the one that I likethe most, but it's hard to
choose only one because indifferent aesthetics and there's
a lot of other watches that Ialso want the people to discover

(54:32):
in the future, and maybe wewill be able to revive them and
to at least inspire ourselvesfrom this particular watch and
coming back with it.
But if I have to choose one,the6 is definitely the the one I
uh, I prefer yeah I.

Blake Rea (54:46):
I threw you under the bus there a little bit because
I know it's hard to say whichone's your favorite child, right
, really, um, it's and, as a dad, it's like you are asking me if
I prefer my son or my daughtersorry.
Sorry for that, but that's fine, but no.
So, uh, we I I know for a factbecause whenever we release an

(55:08):
episode, we have a lot of watchdesigners that listen to our
episode.
They literally reach out to meon a regular basis because I
would say that our podcast iskind of turned into like an
industry like in, like insidersin the industry listen to our
podcasts and I know for a factthere's a lot of young watch

(55:32):
designers that are going to belistening to you.
Um, so I want to see if I canknock out a few questions about
design before we kind of partways.
Um, but also, uh, a challengewhat would you say is the
biggest challenge in designingluxury watches in today's

(55:53):
competitive market?
I always come with the hardquestions.

Romain Marietta (56:04):
No, but obviously designing a watch is
not an easy task.
But what is the most importantfor me, for us, is proportion,
our proportion, because if awatch is well proportioned, then
normally it should be fine.
But then you also have to, ofcourse, think about economy and

(56:24):
comfort.
But then you also have to, ofcourse, think about economy and
comfort, and sometimes peopleare forgetting this aspect of
creation.
But I mean, proportion is ourkey.
If something is wellproportioned, I mean, obviously
it will normally be a hit, anddesigners also sometimes need to

(56:48):
understand more the mechanics,the movements.
It will, of course, help themto have more constraints in
their design and if they havethis approach, they would be
even more, I would say greaterdesigner.
And I have met a lot, and Ihave one now, even more I would
say greater designer.
And I have met a lot, and Ihave one now the lead creative

(57:10):
director that we have, sebastian, who has this sensitivity, this
sense of being very aware aboutthe movement, the constraint
about the movement, listening tothe watchmakers and the
developers, which they reallyappreciate, because sometimes
the designers are not like this,but it was maybe the previous

(57:32):
generation.
So, yeah, I would sayproportion is key.

Blake Rea (57:38):
How would you say that Zenith stays inspired and
innovative in an industry thathangs its hat on tradition?

Romain Marietta (57:48):
Because, we are curious because we are checking
everything that is releasedfrom the competitors, because we
are just passionate watch geeksI'm really talking about.
I mean that's the spirit wehave at Zenith, at least, and
specifically, of course, at theproduct development, but I'm
also including the guys at themovement developments and also

(58:10):
the, the project manager that wehave and we are working with,
because they are they really dolove what they do.
They are passionate aboutwatches, about craftsmanship and
also the watchmaker we have.
I mean it's, it's really a,it's really a specific industry.
That's, I mean, let's phase itthrough Nobody needs watches
anymore.
So it's only about passion andyou are creating way more than

(58:32):
just an object that is givingand tell you the time, and for
me, that's the driver for atleast being, I mean, willing and
having the envy to wake upevery day is to us to, because I
just love what I do and I justreally do love watches and what
it does represent as a whole,what it does represent for

(58:54):
Switzerland specifically,because I mean it's, this is
really something that we, thatwe are proud of.
So, yeah, it's, it's, it's,it's, it's, it's, it's, it's a
fantastic industry, honestly,but in reality, nobody really
needs it anymore.
But that's even more beautifulbecause it's a bit useless.

(59:14):
But that's luxury.

Blake Rea (59:16):
You know, that's how you know I'm a sick person,
because I need them.

Romain Marietta (59:20):
Yeah, but I need them too.
I need them too.
It's not to give me the time,but I need them and I need them
all.

Blake Rea (59:25):
I's not to give me the time, but I need them.

Romain Marietta (59:27):
And I need them all.
I'm totally like you.
It's like catching the Pokemon,it's like catching them all.

Blake Rea (59:32):
Exactly.

Romain Marietta (59:33):
You got to catch them all.

Blake Rea (59:34):
You got to catch them all.
Yeah, of course, I can alreadyimagine some of my friends, some
of the guys that reach out tome, that communicate, that
listen, listen would want me toask this question to you.
Uh, what advice would you giveto aspiring watch designers you
know, who look up to brands likezenith?

Romain Marietta (01:00:00):
if you, if you, if you want to, uh, to work for
, for, for a brand like zenith,you have to.
You want to work for a brandlike Zenith, you have to have
the approach of being verysensitive about the history, the
legacy we have Because, as Isaid, the brand needs to survive

(01:00:21):
us we are just part of thewhole history and story of this
brand and you have to besensitive to mechanics,
mechanical stuff.
I mean, we are a manufacturer,we are doing everything here by
hand, so you need to have thiscuriosity about craftsmanship,
every single type ofcraftsmanship.
You have to be very curious.

(01:00:41):
I think that curiosity is thekey for a designer, because I
mean you are looking ateverything, not only what
happens in watchmaking, but alsoin the car industry, in
furniture, in fashion, inwhatsoever.
Everything can inspire youevery day.
And I'm the oldest in my, let'ssay, office here and I'm always

(01:01:05):
amazed by this new generation,curious about everything.
They also made me, they arefeeding me, and they made me
also thinking a bit differentlyof what I used to be in the past
, because sometimes I was a bitthe guardian of the temple,
which I'm still be sometimes,but I'm also more open-minded

(01:01:25):
and you have to be very muchopen-minded but still thinking
that there's a lot ofconstraints at that scale, at
that level, and in principlesomething in theory works, but
then in reality, when you arestarting to produce more, it's
sometimes a bit different.

Blake Rea (01:01:48):
Let's get my two final questions out of the way
and then I'll let you go home.
What, what can fans?
I mean, you've alluded to thisalready, but what can fans as
aneth expect in the coming yearsin terms of design and
innovation?

Romain Marietta (01:02:03):
well, it's really part of our dna, so we
still try to to make the mostbeautiful watches possible.
Innovation is also key and andwe are, we are working on that
we, we are, we are amanufacturer.
We want to demonstrate thisevery single time we do a
release.
I mean you can expect us to bealways following what's

(01:02:25):
happening in, I mean Zenit.
The history of Zenit has alwaysbeen following what's happening
in the world, being a witness ofthe world.
So you can expect us to bealways on time on this, and we
can also expect us a lot ofsurprises, because we like to

(01:02:47):
surprise people.
We like to come where you werenot expecting us.
So I can promise this.
I can also promise that we willstay true to who we are and the
basic that we have set, thefoundation that we have set over
the last 5-6 years, and stillkeep on growing on that and not

(01:03:08):
changing Once again.
We have done that too manytimes in the past.
I have seen on my side sixdifferent CEOs and my goal, my
position, is also to try toremain on track, even if we are
changing sometimes on that leveland not changing the strategy.

(01:03:31):
So you can expect us to alsostay true to what we have set
the last five, six years.

Blake Rea (01:03:39):
One of my friends here at a jewelry store
unfortunately they don't carryZenith, but she is the biggest
zenith fan in the world because,uh, at one point, um, she, she
was, you know, a representativeof the brand.
She was at one of your retailpartners, yeah, and uh, she told

(01:04:02):
, she told me she'll probably besuper excited when she hears
that I bring this up to you, butapparently she told me that you
guys bought a star and named itafter her son.
Yeah, yeah.

Romain Marietta (01:04:19):
What's the name of the son?

Blake Rea (01:04:22):
I'll have to text it to you offline, but you guys
legitimately gave her acertificate, I think because she
sold so many Zenith watches.

Romain Marietta (01:04:32):
Yeah, that's possible.
Probably the US team did that.
We love to have proximity withour sales representatives
because they are really the faceof the brand in a way.
Of course, they are behind thecounters and they are really
supporting us and we love themfor that.

(01:04:53):
I mean, we are working withretailers.
We are not that much intoretail I mean our own retail.
We are really a wholesale brandoriented.
So we like our sales guys, oursales representatives, and I'm
curious to know who is she,because there's a lot of
competition.
So who is the biggest fan ofZenith Worldwide?

(01:05:16):
I have another one in mind.

Blake Rea (01:05:20):
Her name is Sonia and I will get back to you on that
for sure.
She's so lovely.
So when I got my Corona MasterSport, I wore it into their
jewelry store and, like I said,they don't carry.
I mean, we have a lot of jewelrystores here in Vegas and
they're not on the strip,they're not where all the other
jewelry stores are, they're outthere right In West Las Vegas

(01:05:46):
and I wore this kernel mastersport in like the like this was
like day two, day three, when Ijust got it like I'm still
breaking it in, you know andshe's like, oh my god, I like,
like, like, literally, I'm likeI said it was my favorite brand,
like, like she, she is in lovewith the brand so much, um, that
I have, uh, a vintage.

(01:06:07):
Well, I like to share watches.
Like, to me, what's the mostimportant thing is I would not
be here sitting in front of youlonely, wrist all this, all this
stuff would not exist if Ididn't love to share my passion
with watches.
So I had, like all gold zenith,stelatina, like recently

(01:06:27):
restored and uh, and so the lasttime I went to the jewelry
store I just said, hey, likejust borrow this, you know, uh,
and she's, she's, she's gonnawear this.
I'm gonna let her borrow formaybe like six months or so and
just kind of, to me, that's whatwatch collecting is about.
You know, like I've got threeor four of my friends watches
right now, you know, and they'vegot three or four of my watches

(01:06:49):
, you know, and no, but ofcourse it's about shared passion
.

Romain Marietta (01:06:52):
I mean, this is our, this is why we are here,
this is why we are discussing.
It's just because we, we, welove that industry, we love that
craftsmanship and and thatmakes us and it's.
We have a specific connectionwith this mechanical heartbeat,
and we don't know exactly why,but it's just there.
And it's fantastic.

Blake Rea (01:07:15):
Yeah, I will certainly get back to you on
that, please.
Our final question Drum roll.
And I know this is probablygoing to be the hardest question
of the night, but with with youbeing in your role at zenith,
I'm sure you've got dreams thatyou want to accomplish before

(01:07:39):
you leave the company you knowand before you hand it on to the
next generation of, of somebodywho you know, uh, uh, who, who,
who has the ability to step inand take over, because you know,
obviously we're not we're notgonna work forever I know of
course, um, but what?
what would you see what?

(01:07:59):
What would you hope toaccomplish at your time, as
aneth, before you know to say tosay, hey, look, job done, I am
done, I have done everything Ican in my generation.
Uh, what do you hope toaccomplish before you leave the
brand?

Romain Marietta (01:08:16):
I would not say something that I would, that I
would accomplish myself.
I think it's it's what the teamcould accomplish for the brand
honestly, and I just thinkhonestly, very genuinely and
candidly, that we just deserveto be more recognized for what
we are doing.
So I would love to see thebrand, of course, on more risks

(01:08:40):
with more recognition.
We have a lot of people whohave, let's say, passion, love.
They are very kind with thebrand.
I mean all the people that I'mmeeting every time they always
have a story within it.
But we are obviously not thenumber one purchase for a lot of
people around the world and Imean this is our job to make it

(01:09:02):
just more.
We just want to build moreawareness, notoriety and
desirability for that brand thatjust deserve to be more
recognized.
So, of course, obviously theproduct that we are doing are
there for this.
We have been able to do thisfantastic, for example,
chronomaster Sport, which we arevery proud because it's

(01:09:24):
happening once in a lifetimeprobably, when you work for a
brand, that you have such atsunami of of of demand on one
single watch.
And it happens to us and we werevery proud because we have
worked a lot on that we workedour ass off in terms of design
to to make it happen.
So we are very proud of this,but I would not say it's the
achievement we have donepersonally, but as a team, and

(01:09:47):
being able to see each other,maybe in 20 years still being
still friends with all thepeople I'm working with, would
be my best accomplishment.
And obviously we have somedevelopments here and there that
are going to happen, which I'mvery proud.
And maybe in 10, 15, 20 years Iwould be very, very proud to

(01:10:10):
look back and say, oh, we havebeen able to do this.
But I mean, at the end, it'sthe success of the product or
the line or whatsoever thatspeaks for itself.
So if you are not recognizedfor this by the clients the
clients are the kings then youit's uh, it's uh.
You can say that it's a bit,it's a bit useless, but that

(01:10:32):
would be my unfortunately.

Blake Rea (01:10:35):
Like when you think about like, even um, like
construction right, let's justuse construction, because I
don't think we another analogywould be appropriate but uh, uh,
you know you have peopleclearing out, you know, trees or
or or leveling uh areas, andthen you have people that are
coming and paving the roads, youknow, and then people, people

(01:10:57):
literally, will, uh, we'll driveon the road and be like, oh,
I'm so grateful there's a,there's a road today, you know,
like I'm driving on this road,but you know, the guys who, who
cleared that for the road to belaid, yeah, you know, don't get
the recognition that theydeserve and and uh, and you got.
You guys are unfortunately inthat position where you guys are

(01:11:17):
the ones that are pushing theindustry and then, you know,
people catch on later, you knowyeah I mean unfortunately, and
uh, and I, I think, personally,I mean I obviously it's your,
it's your dream to you know, toget more resonance out there and
to sell more watches, um, butyou know, maybe in in the next

(01:11:40):
20 years or decade, you know,you guys, I mean you, you had
that, that, uh, that um, thatreputation now of being forward
thinking, you know, and beingahead of your time, right, um,
and so obviously, selling morewatches is great, but I think

(01:12:02):
you guys are heading in a greatdirection, yeah thank you.

Romain Marietta (01:12:09):
I mean, of course we try to be ahead of
time and forward thinking andmaybe in 15 years people will
say that, but at the end it'sreally.
I mean, the story of a brand ismade by individuals, but at the
end it's the brand which isreally the king and I really try
to stay behind this real belief.

(01:12:31):
I'm really behind the brandthat I'm working with because
without this, I wouldn't behonestly very happy to wake up
every day and to work for thatbrand.
And we have a fantastic history, a fantastic brand with
fantastic people working there,a lot of independence within the

(01:12:51):
biggest luxury group in theworld.
I have to say the image gave usa lot of independence to also
create our own way, our own takeon this brand.
And this is really.
I mean, I have a lot ofappreciation for this and people
maybe don't know it, buthonestly, it's very important.
If you don't have like 30different layers of validation

(01:13:16):
to do something, I mean you doreally have an impact on your
daily task and on all thewatches that we are designing.
We can really have an impactpersonal impact because of our
taste, of course, but also bylistening to your taste, to the
taste of the your friends toinject this into into watches.

(01:13:37):
So this is really dry.
That that really drives meevery day.
Yeah.

Blake Rea (01:13:41):
Yeah, and I, I would say that your, your team here
from, from working with yourteam here in in the us, you know
, you guys are doing that reallywell, because when you guys
first released the pilot um, andat that time I was selling
zenith, you know, uh, your yourrep, uh jessica, was like hey,
like I like, let me, let me geta group.

(01:14:04):
She like gathered a grouparound of all of us.

Romain Marietta (01:14:06):
She's like tell me she's awesome, yeah, she's
amazing, uh, she's like she'slike.

Blake Rea (01:14:11):
Tell me what you think about this release you
know like.
What do you like about you knowshe.
You know that was at the timewhen the, the new pilot, first
came and uh, and it's, you know,it's, it's small moments like
that that I appreciate that youguys are listening, you guys
have you, you know, have yourear out and and you guys really
want to deliver a product thatthat, at the end, a consumer can

(01:14:33):
get behind and they want to buyand spend their own money.
Yeah, exactly.

Romain Marietta (01:14:39):
Because spending 10,000 US dollars for a
watch is, I mean, it's crazy ina way.
So you have to think andrespect this project from a
client's perspective, to putyourself in his shoes.
Spending this amount of moneyfor watches is something.

(01:15:00):
You have to be authentic, youhave to be very close to him,
you have to listen to him, youhave to listen to to him and
this is what really I mean weare.
We have that mindset honestlyand we want to.
We want to stay and remain likethis, uh, very authentic, and
and, and, and, and andpassionate.

Blake Rea (01:15:19):
That sounds like that's a good statement to to
end this one on.
So want I, of course.
I want to thank you again foryou know doing this again with
me.
You know you did your youtube.
We sat down for we talked a lotabout design for the 45 45
minutes.
Last time I saw you at thefactory the manufacturer, sorry

(01:15:41):
yeah uh, and in our youtubevideo everybody go check it out.
Um, obviously I'm gonna keep myeyes out and I'm gonna make sure
you're not doing anything crazyuh and please, if you see
something, raise your hands Iknow, I, um, I I will say and I

(01:16:03):
don't, I don't know how I gotthis way, but it was my dream
and I swear I'm not just sayingthis because I have three of
your watches, I had four, I hada 386 as well and I got rid of
it.
I don't know why I hate that.

(01:16:23):
I did that an original 386.
But it has always been a dreamof mine to own a zenith, you
know, and uh and that's the bestcompliment we can get in
reality from from someone.
I mean that's the bestcompliment we can have, the best
sentence I can hear yeah, it'ssomething that, as a watch

(01:16:45):
collector, I I have dreams toown all these other brands
watches and add them to mycollection.
But you know, once you get theminto your collection, it's just
like that feeling is over,right, that feeling is over, um,
but I, I don't.
I don't feel that way towardszenith.
Like, like, every time I wearone of your watches, especially

(01:17:09):
the Defy I've got the Defy whiteceramic.
Like beautiful watch.
Like, anywhere I go I'll wearthat.
And everybody's like dude, whatthe like, what is that you're
wearing?
Like, take that off, let me see.
You know, like I get so manycompliments but it really does
resonate for me.
You, you know that it was adream to own one of your watches

(01:17:30):
and now I have multiple andevery day I wear them.
It never gets old, it feelsrefreshing, it feels exciting
and, uh, there's watches outthere that you know I've been on
wait lists for to get and I'vegotten them and I'm just like,
oh okay, whatever, but it'struly an honor.

(01:17:52):
Every day I wear one of myZenith watches.
Wow, what can I say?

Romain Marietta (01:17:58):
Thank you for this.
I'm saying that.
I'm saying that that's I'msuper proud and humble to hear
such a thing.
It's music to my ears.

Blake Rea (01:18:08):
Thank, you, especially when I go, like I
said, when I go to those watchmeetups and everybody's got
their Daytonas.

Romain Marietta (01:18:15):
Please keep on doing it.
I will, I will, and spread theword, spread the good things.

Blake Rea (01:18:21):
I am a self-appointed ambassador, yeah.

Romain Marietta (01:18:24):
I mean, that's what we are searching for.
I mean people who areambassadors.
Clients are the bestambassadors because they have
their own circle of friends,their own networks, and when you
do speak about the things youlove with passion, that it's
just.
I mean, you're just sharingthis.
It's the best way to spread theword.

Blake Rea (01:18:45):
Contagious.

Romain Marietta (01:18:47):
It's contagious .

Blake Rea (01:18:47):
Thank you, Blake.
Thank you so much for spendingtime with us.

Romain Marietta (01:18:51):
Thank you very much.
My pleasure, my pleasure.

Blake Rea (01:18:54):
Everybody.
We're going to leave a link toZinna's website below.
Obviously, these are watchesyou've got to see in person.
If you haven't seen them, I'msure you have.
And thank you again for comingon, ramah, I really appreciate
you spending time with us.

Romain Marietta (01:19:08):
I'll probably see if we are the audience and
if they have any questions,please feel free to um forward
them to me yeah, yeah, I'llprobably see you soon.

Blake Rea (01:19:17):
I I am coming back to switzerland, uh, at some point,
so I'm sure we'll great, youknow we'll have the same
discussion over some years at.

Romain Marietta (01:19:25):
Some'd love to welcome you.

Blake Rea (01:19:28):
Thank you so much for coming on and we will talk to
you very soon, thank you.
Thank you, blake.