You can come across at least two distinctively different versions of the Davidoff logo.
The tobacco portion of the brand has a handwriting-inspired wordmark, while the non-tobacco products use a simpler sans serif type. The reason is that the two parts of the brand have different owners.
The tobacco business of the Davidoff brand can be divided into two portions. The cigarette brand belongs to Imperial Brands (it was acquired in 2006), while the non-cigarette portion of the business belongs to Oettinger Davidoff AG.
The current logo was introduced at the beginning of the 2000s. It looks refined and timeless due to the script inspired by handwriting. The links between the letters, as well as the unexpected and unnecessary (from the purely functional perspective) elements, add a personal touch. They conjure up the image of monograms aristocrats used to put on their belongings a long time ago.
And yet, the logo cannot be mistaken for someone’s signature – the shape of the glyphs is perfectly aligned and does not have the slightest hint on the casualness of the words written by hand.
The script wordmark may be given inside an ellipse or paired with a horizontal bar.
Zino Davidoff Group (Zino Davidoff SA) was separated from the tobacco-product company Davidoff in 1980. It works in the luxury goods segment selling a range of upscale products (from watches and leather goods to fragrances and cognac). It is a family business headquartered in Basel, Switzerland.
Similar to the tobacco brand’s logo, the emblem of the non-tobacco brand is based on the name “Davidoff”. And yet, the style is different here. The letters are capitalized and do not bear the handwritten influence. Each of the glyphs is separated by generous spaces from both sides.
While the type is generally a sans serif one, you can notice that the ends of the letters appear slightly wider. Each of the glyphs combines strokes of different thicknesses, which add a refined touch.
The most notable letter is probably the “A” with its horizontal bar moved to the right.