SpotlightA Master Chef Meets The Master Of Chronographs: Josh Niland And Zenith

If you’ve followed MasterChef Australia, over its last couple of seasons especially, you must have come across this young chef who’s known for his knife skills and more with seafood, particularly fish. Josh Niland, 31, from Australia, has appeared as a guest judge on the hugely popular competition reality series multiple times, and we’ve seen him display his ‘nose-to-fin’ approach with the butchery of fish in the episodes featuring him. An acclaimed and multi-award-winning chef, Niland has been demonstrating the ‘art of whole-fish cookery’, and changing the way fish is cooked, transported, aged and stored. It’s all in a big way to do with minimal wastage—an effort to practise sustainability. And now, in line with the ‘Horiz-On’ initiative by Zenith, ‘for a more sustainable end environmentally conscious future’, Josh Niland has been brought on board by the Swiss maison, as a ‘friend of the brand’.

Zenith For Josh Niland

It is Niland’s ethical and sustainable approach towards using every part of a fish that resonates with Zenith. “We’re so excited to welcome aboard Josh Niland as Zenith’s newest friend of the brand in Australia. Josh embodies what it means to follow your passion and convictions to reach your star,” expresses Julien Tornare, CEO, Zenith. “He’s not just an incredible chef; he’s also leading the way and showing the world new possibilities of ethics and sustainability in seafood. This is precisely the kind of creativity for the greater good that we seek to explore and nurture within our Zenith Horiz-On initiative.”

Niland is seen here wearing the Zenith Chronomaster Sport

The central chronograph hand tracks 1/10th of a second, with the scale of this is on the bezel

Zenith Chronomaster

₹10,40,000

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Josh Niland And Zenith’s Values

On the other hand, Niland’s appeal towards Zenith is also informed by his own values and creativity. His focused approach towards food—having mastered seafood, fish particularly—mirrors Zenith’s focus towards the chronograph, as they are the masters and pioneers of the chronograph complication. They created the world’s first automatic high-frequency, integrated chronograph movement in 1969, and have built on that achievement over the decades since.

Josh Niland is known for his knife skills and his 'nose-to-fin' zero-wastage approach to working with fish. Here, he's seen working on fish with a Zenith Defy Skyline Skeleton on his wrist

The Skyline Skeleton presents an open-worked display with finely finished bridges and other components

“With so many parallels to draw between the worlds of cuisine and watchmaking, I’m so delighted to join Zenith as a friend of the brand,” shares Niland. “I’ve always tried to evolve the way we approach seafood, and I find the same spirit of innovation and daring in Zenith and how they’re raising awareness and taking an active approach towards sustainability. I look forward to sharing exciting moments together”

Niland is putting together a fish pie, while a Zenith Pilot watch sits on his wrist

The 2023 Pilot watch is a complete redesign of the PIlot watch from Zenith, while it still maintain aviation watch staples, such as large Arabic numerals, and a big crown

Zenith Pilot

₹7,50,000

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With this new association, we are bound to see Josh Niland sporting a Zenith Chronomaster or Pilot’s timepiece on his wrist during his appearances on television. Surely we’ll see him in MasterChef Australia also, as the cooking show is set to return for a 16th season. Like another guest judge, Clare Smyth—a friend of Hublot, who was seen wearing Big Bang Unico watch on the show—Niland will most likely be seen wearing a Zenith on MasterChef Australia when he stops by that kitchen next.

Josh Niland is wearing a Zenith Defy Skyline

This 41mm ceramic timepiece features a 1/10th-of-a-second timepiece at nine o'clock on the dial

Zenith Defy Skyline SHOP THE COLLECTION