The Return Of Thierry Nataf

LouS
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Thierry Nataf, the man Zenith classicists love to hate, who led the manufacture into the abyss
dubai1.jpg


has returned, being appointed to CEO of Slyde.
https://www.slyde.ch/en/index.php

Discuss, if you can bring yourself to...
 
U
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Richard Mille meets Uwerks with a pinch of Aximum! :eek:

Stewart H Stewart H
It looks like they have already Natafed the watch.

Boy, when your name is used as a verb you know you either screwed up royally or have made it. I think we all know what category this falls into.
 
Steve
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Is it me, or is that the weirdest photo you've ever seen ??.
 
LouS
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U ulackfocus
Richard Mille meets Urwerk with a pinch of Aximum! :eek:

At least Nataf has yet to claim he is the "son of Time."

Steve Steve
Is it me, or is that the weirdest photo you've ever seen ??.

It's not you. It's Nataf. That's his genius.
 
U
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LouS LouS
At least Nataf has yet to claim he is the "son of Time."

Hey now, be easy on Jonny Sonbul! He's got that same kind of "genius".
 
LouS
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MyVintageOmega MyVintageOmega
Nataf.....searching him now.

CEO of Zenith 2002-2009. Repositioned a storied and honored watch manufacture for the ultraluxury market, producing huge, bizarre watches that were all but unusable as watches because design overwhelmed readability, and pricing them stratospherically. The crash of 2008 more or less eliminated the clientele for these watches (if one ever existed) and Zenith nearly collapsed. As a result, he is not hugely popular with the hidebound, unimaginative vintage crowd.

some examples
http://www.amazon.com/Zenith-Xtreme-Tourbillon-Automatic-96-0528-4035-21-M528/dp/B008B9JWK6/ref=sr_1_5?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1355959202&sr=1-5&keywords=zenith watch

http://www.amazon.com/Zenith-Xtreme-Grande-Date-Stealth-95-0527-4039-01-M530/dp/B001LYBXSM/ref=sr_1_33?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1355959214&sr=1-33&keywords=zenith watch

http://www.amazon.com/Zenith-03-0526-4037-21-R642-Multicity-Timezone/dp/B0036F0QH8/ref=sr_1_95?s=watches&ie=UTF8&qid=1355959246&sr=1-95&keywords=zenith watch

If you look closely at the picture in the lead post, you can see some of his creations on the wrist. They are the things that look like house-arrest bracelets.

in fairness, the man did produce my favorite modern Zenith, but it was a heritage edition.
DSC_0016crop.jpg
 
U
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LouS LouS
in fairness, the man did produce my favorite modern Zenith, but it was a heritage edition.

He didn't produce it, he just ran out of avante garde designs and had to take advice from sensible employees who noticed brands like Longines who were making a mint on reissues of classic products.


BTW, I love the reviews in the Amazon links. :p
 
LouS
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You might be right. It was not a slavish reissue, though. He actually upsized the case, which was not so easy to upsize intelligently being atypical to begin with, which did interesting things to the watch. It's substantially larger than the vintage, and manages to look quite cutting edge - sort of like what I imagine Hublot could have looked like if you took out the ridiculous.

here it is among the A 3817 and the A 386 for a size comparison.
DSC_0013adj.jpg


Anyway, Dufour killed the series, which was just getting interesting after two years, so I am giving the credit to Nataf.
 
John Chris
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Love the photo at the top of Nataf at the Jersey Shore! Now as for watch that opens the Slyde website, you know you have design problems when you have to include little signs that tell you where to look for the hours, for the minutes and for the seconds. I guess it avoids confusion: "Oh no I'm late, it's 56 o'clock…uh…no, wait…".
 
dsio
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Does anyone know why this man isn't running Hublot yet?
 
U
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dsio dsio
Does anyone know why this man isn't running Hublot yet?

They already have the ________ positions filled. (install your favorite derogative)
 
LouS
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dsio dsio
Does anyone know why this man isn't running Hublot yet?

It requires cheesemaking experience from what I've read. It's a strange job description::screwloose::
 
Gavin
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I see Nataf's reign as a glass half full. If he had been successful, Zenith prices will and should be higher than what it is now. But because of his relative incompetence, it is now still a brand whose watches are relatively more affordable than other brands. Which I am not not complaining.
 
MMMD
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I had no idea the dude was into falconry. Perhaps I have misjudged him...
 
dsio
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MMMD MMMD
I had no idea the dude was into falconry. Perhaps I have misjudged him...
Could easily be a stuffed falcon, you never know lol
 
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