The impetus to get into the watch industry can be varied; from long-standing family legacies to realizing a childhood fascination. Possibly the most unique, however, is the course that led Michael Pearson to his roles as global brand director at Zodiac.
Michael, who grew up in the English town of Nuneaton, initially headed into the world of corporate business management. However, a traumatic car crash on New Year’s Day at the turn of the Millenium, which he was lucky to have survived, inspired him to “give life another go”. This new mindset led him to indulge in one of his biggest passions – travel.
In order to scratch his traveling itch, Michael sought out jobs in the cruise ship industry. He was then approached by a company owned by LVMH set up to promote shopping ashore to guests on cruises in the Caribbean through an onboard TV channel, seminars and product presentations.
Whilst doing this job, helping “people find the world’s greatest gemstones, trinkets, souvenirs and Swiss Watches in these amazing Caribbean destinations,” he found himself victim to his own sales pitch and fell hard for watches.
In 2007, just as the recession was about to smash through the industry, Michael moved to the US to take a job with Ernst Benz, which he describes as “the greatest education of my life”. He later took a job with British watch brand Bremont, promoting its timepieces in the US, and then made the move to watch brand Zodiac, an American brand of Swiss-made watches founded in 1882 by Ariste Calame in Le Locle, Switzerland..
Over the past 12 months, Michael has been working on cultivating a clear and innovative vision for Zodiac, which was acquired by the Fossil Group in the early 2000s. “I am incredibly proud of how the community has embraced what we are trying to do,” he says.
“We are by no means the finished article, but there aren’t many brands with a history as storied as ours, so with a little ingenuity and a lot of investment in design, manufacturing and the team, we are turning this great name in the right direction.”
Michael hopes to grow the Zodiac brand to the point where he can look to open with more partners across the globe – Australia, Asia, the Middle East – which will no doubt sate his latent wanderlust.
Although certainly settled in the US these days, Michael does still enjoy a touch of home, and attracts a few glances while driving his old right-hand-drive British Land Rover Defender on the roads of Texas.