Watches

Zenith names Breitling executive as new CEO

WatchesMay 05, 2014

Zenith names Breitling executive as new CEO

Zenith announced Monday that it has found a replacement for Jean-Frédéric Dufour, who is leaving the brand to head Rolex.  

Paris--Zenith announced Monday that it has found a replacement for Jean-Frédéric Dufour, who is leaving the brand to head Rolex. 

Aldo Magada, who has spent the last four years as the international sales and business development director at Breitling, will be the new president and CEO of Zenith, effective July 1. 

A native of Switzerland, Magada started in the watch industry in 1984 when he joined Swatch, moving up through the ranks over the years at Piaget and Omega, where he was product and marketing director working alongside Jean-Claude Biver between 1994 and 1998. 

RELATED CONTENT: Rolex names new CEO

The former head of Hublot who is well known in the watch industry, Biver is currently the president of the watches division at LVMH, the luxury goods conglomerate that owns Zenith, as well as TAG Heuer and Hublot. 

In 2000, Magada became president of the timepieces division of Gucci. 

Between 2002 and 2009 he led Technomarine, Reuge--a company that makes musical clocks--and luxury watch brand Badollet before founding a consulting firm. He returned to the brand world in 2010 when he joined Breitling. 

Magada is in his mid-50s and resides in Switzerland with his wife and two children.  

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.

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