LVMH, the international luxury products company, on Oct. 3 appointed Thierry Nataf as president of Zenith, the Swiss luxury watch and movement company, effective Jan. 1, 2002. Nataf is currently the company’s chief executive officer.

Nataf replaces François Manfredini who will move up to be LVMH’s vice president of watch movements. He will be in charge of coordinating the watch movements strategy of all LVMH brands and will represent LVMH in Swiss and international trade organizations.

Zenith was acquired by LVMH in 1999 and is part of its watch & jewelry division.

Founded in 1865, Zenith is one of a few elite watch manufacturers that still design and produce their own precision mechanical movements. Among its best known mechanical movements are its ‘El Primero’ integrated automatic chronograph movement and its ‘Elite’ movement, voted “best mechanical movement” by the international professional press in 1995. The company produces some 50,000 timepieces per year.

JCK