The Business of Watches Podcast: Zenith CEO Benoit De Clerck

This week on The Business of Watches, we talk to the man who runs the brand that makes the mighty El Primero movement. Benoit de Clerck has been in the CEO chair at Zenith Watches for a couple of years now, and that’s coincided with a challenging time for the sector and one of the industry’s most storied brands, with more than 160 years of history and still located in its original manufacturing location in Le Locle, Switzerland. 

Under de Clerck’s leadership, Zenith is responding to the challenges with a multi-pronged approach. It’s throttling production to keep sell-in and sell-out balanced, he says. But it’s also stepping up its movement, making production expertise and supplying more calibers to other brands, also under the LVMH watch group umbrella. As for those reports and rumors that Zenith is up for sale? We ask de Clerck straight up if the El Primero maker is on the selling block. Have a listen to hear his forceful and fulsome response. 

But first, former Hodinkee editor Logan Baker drops in to give his take on Zenith, as well as reports that the valuation of Breitling has been reduced by its private equity ownership. Logan also has a few of his unique vintage Zenith watches on hand for us to check out. 

We hope you enjoy the conversations. There’s plenty of watch business and strategy to discuss. Be sure to leave any thoughts or questions in the comments section, and we’ll do our best to respond.

Want to subscribe so you never miss an episode? This new show is being published to the original Hodinkee Podcasts feed, so you can subscribe wherever you find your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or TuneIn.

Show Notes

1:30 Logan Baker (Hodinkee)
1:40 A Watch Enthusiast’s Guide to Geneva (Logan Baker, Phillips)
2:34 Zenith Manufacture Le Locle
5:13 Zenith Chronometer Calatrava Circa 1964
6:50 Square case Zenith Defy with integrated bracelet
7:34 Zenith Elite Movement
9:45 Morgan Stanley Swiss Watcher Report
10:50 Private equity owners slash valuation of Swiss watchmaker Breitling (FT paywall)
13:15 Zenith Celebrates Its 160th Anniversary With CEO Benoit de Clerck (YouTube, Watch Adviser)
15:25 Hands-On: Zenith’s Resurrected Caliber 135-Powered ‘G.F.J.’ (Hodinkee)
15:49 Hands-On: The Zenith Chronomaster Original Triple Calendar Lapis Lazuli (Hodinkee)
17:01 GPHG Chronometry Prize 2025
18:40 I Spend All Day Researching Vintage Zenith Watches – Here’s Why This El Primero Is So Important To Me
20:03 Introducing: Zenith Defy Chronograph USM (Hands-On And Live Pics)
26:03 LVMH response to report Zenith brand is up for sale (Hodinkee story on Baume & Mercier sale)
27:30 Tiffany’s New Watch Courts The Male Buyer (New York Times)
32:07 Hublot Big Bang With Zenith Movement (Monochrome)
37:01 Zenith: The Heart of Watchmaking (YouTube)
39:05 Zenith A Visit To The Manufacture
41:02 Zenith GFJ
42:32 CHF x USD (Yahoo)