Issue 186: All Change At TAG Heuer?
Reports of the CEO's imminent departure have not been confirmed. Plus: answers to the 2025 holiday quiz!
Hello and welcome back to The Fourth Wheel, the weekly watch newsletter that isn’t going to begin the new year with a list of predictions - the kind of thing you write when there isn’t much else going on - but get straight into what could be quite a significant story. Below that, you can find the answers to last year’s quiz. One winner has been chosen from those who sent in their responses - I’ll be getting in touch with details of your prize, so watch your inbox!
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Here’s a little taste of what you might have missed recently:
Is TAG Heuer heading for a new CEO?
Business Montres reported at the start of this week1 that TAG Heuer CEO Antoine Pin has departed after 15 months in charge, citing “strategic differences” between Pin and LVMH executives.
The story has emerged at an awkward time, with LVMH Watch Week set to take place from January 19th in Milan. Instead of focussing on the first wave of new watches for 2026, the brand will be fielding questions about boardroom drama and uncertainty.
I have approached TAG Heuer in the UK for a comment, but at the time of publication no statements have been made. Without knowing much about goings-on behind the scenes, it’s my guess that the group will at least want to have an interim replacement in place before saying anything. But if the reports are true, and Pin really is leaving, then the brand is facing an unexpected change of leadership for the second time in the last two years.
As has been pointed out on Instagram, this would mean that TAG Heuer has had seven CEOs in the last 12 years. But that is only one way of framing the figures2. Heuer was founded in 1860 by Edouard Heuer. From then until 2013, when Jean-Christophe Babin left TAG Heuer to run Bulgari, a span of 153 years, it had seven leaders; it has had another seven since3.
Of course, you can make numbers dance around all you like; it’s never the whole story. I’m not saying, for instance, that Heuer of the 1970s was a more stable company than TAG Heuer of the 2010s because it had more consistent leadership. There’s much more to a company’s fate than the man or woman in charge.
Nevertheless, it doesn’t look pretty. But despite the optics, and notwithstanding the general climate that we spent all of 2025 describing as “challenging” (shall we choose a new adjective for 2026? Distressing? Wearying? Or perhaps Opportunity-filled?) TAG Heuer didn’t seem to be doing all that badly. You can pick over individual watches, but in general the product line-up is about right, and as the standard-bearer for LVMH’s F1 mega-deal, the narrative seems to be simple, credible and to-the-point. Sales for LVMH Watches UK, of which TAG Heuer is a big part, were down in 2024, but more recent anecdotal feedback points to a better year in 2025.
How did we get here?4
Let’s go back almost exactly two years to January 1st 2024. It was announced that Julien Tornare would take the top job at TAG Heuer, replacing Frederic Arnault, who instead of being moved to Bulgari, as had been rumoured, was made CEO of LVMH Watches, a new position, overseeing TAG Heuer, Zenith and Hublot. Tornare’s move was widely perceived as a justified reward for a job well done at Zenith, during which he had overhauled the collections in a coherent way, introduced successful designs, and attempted the difficult process of rebalancing the product line-up to skew less overwhelmingly in favour of the traditional El Primero-powered chronographs. A new visual language gave Zenith a brighter, bouncier feel, and projects such as the collaboration with Kari Voutilainen and Phillips in 2022 on the Observatory Calibre 135 limited edition showed that the brand could finally tell a heritage story that wasn’t about 1969. Tornare to TAG Heuer made a great deal of sense.
It was not to be, however. By July 2024, LVMH had announced that Tornare would be leaving TAG Heuer to take over from Ricardo Guadalupe at Hublot. Guadalupe, who had been with the brand since before it was acquired by LVMH, was named honorary president - which is the kind of thing that happens when you’ve been CEO for 12 years and managing director for eight before that. In April 2025, Guadalupe - who, at 59, can still deliver more than the onerous demands of honorary presidency might ask - moved to the Franck Muller Group to oversee the Pierre Kunz brand, as reported by Europastar. The word on the street at the time was that LVMH had been searching far and wide for a suitable successor without much luck; what isn’t clear is what precipitated Guadalupe’s exit given that it could hardly have been the group’s plan to yank its rising star so quickly out of a job he had just been given. What does make sense is that Hublot, whatever your views on it as a brand, makes too much money for it to be left rudderless for very long. A bigger company than TAG Heuer, it was however said to be moving in the opposite direction, with Morgan Stanley estimating a sales drop of 26 per cent in 2024 while TAG Heuer was estimated to have risen nine per cent.
That brought Antoine Pin, formerly managing director of Bulgari Watches but with decades of experience across LVMH brands, including at TAG Heuer under Jean-Christophe Babin, into the CEO role, effective 1st September 2024. Babin, meanwhile - another long-standing CEO whose retirement had been rumoured for several years - remained CEO of Bulgari but was also named head of LVMH Watches six months later, Frederic Arnault having moved on to run Loro Piana (keep up, everyone!). Just before Christmas, LVMH announced that Babin would be replaced at Bulgari by Laura Burdese, effective 1st July 2026; he will continue to serve as chair of the Bulgari board, CEO of the Bulgari Hotel business and president of the Bulgari Foundation, as well as CEO of LVMH Watches - as reported by Vogue. Burdese was appointed Deputy CEO of Bulgari in July 2024, at the same time as Pin departed. She, like her former boss Mr Babin, reports into Stephane Bianchi - another former TAG Heuer CEO who has held the position of CEO, LVMH Watches & Jewellery (emphasis mine) since 2020.
It is worth noting at this point that this level of executive musical chairs is far from exclusive to LVMH. Since things took a bit of a turn for the worse in the watch industry, there have been several CEO changes at Richemont and Swatch Group brands, and more generally this kind of chopping and changing is more or less to be expected at huge conglomerates. Results and targets are uncompromising, shareholders and owners have to be satisfied; there is an element of ‘football manager syndrome’ at work, and at LVMH in particular you have the added element of the five Arnault children all occupying senior positions at various brands for varying lengths of time. Some, like Jean Arnault at Louis Vuitton, seem to have found a groove that suits them well (one could say the same of Frederic at TAG Heuer - let’s not forget he worked at the brand for three years before becoming CEO for four) but it has frequently been observed by outsiders that the younger generation of Arnault’s has been actively encouraged to gain experience of different sectors of LVMH, moving around every few years. This isn’t to say that’s a bad idea - long term, it’s probably quite sensible for them - but combined with the external factors the luxury world is facing, it might have created a culture of impermanence. At the very least, this many changes in quick succession will plant an unavoidable seed of doubt in the mind of any incoming CEO - how long will I have before the world shifts again?
What next?
Without knowing who might take over - if or when Pin’s departure is confirmed - I can’t really speculate on what the future will hold for TAG Heuer. In all honesty, I’m impressed that the brand hasn’t been blown wildly off course throughout all the C-suite comings and goings. It’s bound to be unsettling for people working there; even if every incoming boss is a superstar genius, they’d all be different superstar geniuses with their own way of working - and each will face the temptation to tweak and fiddle. Product development timelines mean we are probably still seeing watches come to market that had their genesis in the Frederic Arnault era (I’m guessing) but the marketing strategy and brand image is a much flightier creature.
Zooming out to the post-Babin era - which is partly arbitrary, partly a nod to the run of seven CEOs mentioned earlier and partly a reference, almost exactly, to the length of time I’ve been familiar with the brand - I am moved to suggest that, perversely or otherwise, the rapid churn of leaders might actually have imbued TAG Heuer’s brand with a surprising level of resilience. It is a company that is required to wear a few different hats; to watch nerds, a cherished 20th century name with a wonderfully colourful history, but to the wider world it still carries an air of entry-level luxury. This has changed a bit in the last few years, but you don’t have to go back far for TAG Heuer to have been the kind of brand that would be the most expensive name in a shopping mall jewellers, or a chain like Ernest Jones in the UK. It still has an entry-level price of £1,550 and has recently doubled down on its quartz offering - seriously mainstream stuff, and I mean nothing pejorative by that whatsoever.
Over that last 13 years, TAG Heuer has given us one of the most varied catalogues of watches in its peer group. The only Swiss smart watch to stay the distance, in the Connected. A slew of high-tech projects (some that worked, some that didn’t) and a solid backbone of in-house chronograph calibres. Collaborations with streetwear brands, Mario Kart, Alec Monopoly, boxing, Manchester United, marathons, cycling and many more. The one constant has been its close relationship with motoring, but even here it has danced with multiple partners, from McLaren to Aston Martin, Red Bull to Porsche, Goodwood to Gulf. The point I’m making is that although such a busy portfolio could easily appear disjointed, certain themes have endured: when I think of TAG Heuer I think of cars, sport, energy, and a technical mindset. I imagine that’s not far from what they’ve been aiming for.
The hardest thing, in my opinion, for any mainstream legacy watchmaker, is to balance history and modernity. Some brands barely cater to their glorious past - Longines - while others are imprisoned by it (the list is too long, but we all know them). I’d say TAG Heuer does a reasonably good job. As journalists or consumers, we haven’t really had much of a chance to see how the last two CEOs worked at upholding that balance - I believe it has survived, but if Gregory Pons’ reporting is to be believed and “strategic differences” were behind Pin’s exit, maybe the equilibrium was about to be tested. We can only speculate. What I know is that maintaining it will be central to the next CEO’s success. Whether he or she will surpass the two-year average of the last 13 years, only time will tell.
2025 Watch Geek Holiday Quiz: Answers!
How did you do? Let me know…
At what frequency does the Breguet Experimentale 1 beat? 10Hz
Which musician composed an alternative melody for Blancpain’s Grande Double Sonnerie?
A: Eric SingerThe final version of the Konstantin Chaykin ThinKing was released, but how thick is it?
B 1.65mmWhich of these cartoon characters was NOT featured on a (luxury) watch dial this year?
F: Bugs BunnyWhich recently-revived watch brand was sued in the USA for trademark infringement over the use of the name ‘Deep Blue’, which it had historically owned?
A. Favre LeubaGerald Genta won a GPHG for the Oursin. But which animal is ‘oursin’ the French word for?
B. Sea UrchinWhat level of water resistance does the Tudor Pelagos Ultra boast?
B: 1000mWhat name does Rolex give to the new bracelet offered exclusively on the 1908 family?
D. SettimoWhich watch was awarded “Best Men’s Watch” at the 2025 GPHG?
D: Urban Jurgensen UJ-2Which auction house moved into New York’s Breuer Building, whose distinctive windows inspired Toledano & Chan’s debut case design? Sotheby’s
Kollokium changed the designation of its first-run batch for its Projekt 02 from the original “Friends, Family & Fools”, adding an additional “F” to make it the FFF&F edition. What did the extra letter stand for?
D: FlippersWhat symbol appears on the dial of Oris’s 2025 Holstein Edition ProPilot when exposed to UV light? A Bear
Which motorsports legend did Chopard honour with two limited edition Mille Miglia watches in June?
C: Stirling MossIn a year of milestone anniversaries, which dive watch brand marked 50 years of the movie Jaws, with a dial evoking the movie poster?
A: SeikoWhich of these was not a real watch launched this year?
D: The ‘late-o-graph’, a chronograph with dial notations offering possible plausible excuses depending on how behind schedule you are runningWhat pair of related foodstuffs were immortalised in Studio Underd0g’s Unoriginals limited edition drop? Avocado and Guacamole
In August Oris released the second of its ‘New York Harbour’ limited editions. Proceeds from the sales go to support a biodiversity and clean water project in the Hudson river: but which marine animal is at the heart of the scheme?
C: OystersWhat did Tudor create for brand ambassador David Beckham’s birthday this year?
C: A gem-set Black Bay ChronoIn a January video announcing the roll-back of Meta’s fact-checking initiatives and a loosening of political speech on his platforms, which watch was Mark Zuckerberg wearing?
D: A Greubel Forsey Hand Made 1IWC sponsored the ‘F1’ movie in the summer, providing watches for the main characters and even creating a special green dial Ingenieur for Brad Pitt. But what was the name of the fictional Formula 1 team that it sponsored?
B: APX GPIn June, Chrono24 unveiled a much-derided new ad campaign and re-brand, featuring a cast of young models wearing Royal Oaks on public transport and scrolling C24 on the toilet. But what was the secondary marketplace’s new slogan?
B: Time Is Our ThingFrancis-Ford Coppola sold his F.P. Journe FFC bespoke prototype after his 2024 movie Megalopolis flopped hard. How much did it go for, including buyer’s premium?
C: $10.75mVacheron Constantin’s La Quete du Temps clock was the horological high point of the year. But how much does it weigh (approximately)?
B: 250kgThe TV show Your Friends & Neighbors aired this year, centring on a disgraced hedge fund manager who steals expensive items, including watches, from those near him. But who played the lead role?
B: Jon HammWhich watchmaker won the 2025 Gaia prize (in the category of “Craftsmanship - Creation”)?
A: Roger Smith
Round Two: AI Descriptions
I asked ChatGPT to describe five watch brands without mentioning their names. Can you work out which companies it is talking about?
This Swiss maker of precision timepieces is celebrated for its aviation heritage, bold aesthetics, and outstanding chronograph performance. Known for rugged construction and technical sophistication, its watches blend instrument-grade functionality with refined luxury. Pilots and adventurers value its legible dials, reliable movements, and strong professional identity. The company’s commitment to innovation, craftsmanship, and durability has earned it a loyal global following among those who demand accuracy, character, and enduring style. In every design, performance prevails.
28-36
This historic Swiss-founded maison is celebrated for pioneering innovations in mechanical timekeeping and for an unmistakable neoclassical aesthetic defined by guilloché dials, blued hands, and fluted cases. Its creations fuse technical ingenuity with artistic refinement, reflecting centuries of influence on horology. Collectors admire its poetic complications, meticulous craftsmanship, and adherence to traditional hand-finishing. Each piece embodies a blend of elegance, precision, and heritage that continues to shape the highest standards of watchmaking to this day. BREITLING
This storied Swiss manufacturer is renowned for its pioneering high-frequency movements and its relentless pursuit of mechanical precision. Its designs balance vintage-inspired charm with contemporary innovation, often showcasing exceptional chronograph performance rooted in decades of technical breakthroughs. Enthusiasts value its authenticity, heritage, and commitment to in-house craftsmanship. Each creation reflects a spirit of experimentation and resilience, offering a distinctive blend of character, accuracy, and forward-thinking engineering that continues to influence modern watchmaking. BREGUET
This contemporary microbrand is celebrated for its playful spirit, bold color palettes, and refreshingly unconventional approach to mechanical watchmaking. It blends retro-inspired design cues with modern flair, creating pieces that feel both nostalgic and delightfully unexpected. Enthusiasts admire its attention to detail, thoughtful proportions, and willingness to experiment beyond traditional norms. Each model reflects a lighthearted yet sincere commitment to craftsmanship, offering collectors something distinctive, charming, and authentically original in today’s crowded horological landscape. STUDIO UNDERDOG
This legendary designer’s namesake line is defined by daring case shapes, architectural bezels, and a playful mastery of complications that often feature expressive, character-driven displays. Known for creating some of the most influential luxury sports silhouettes in history, the collection blends artistic whimsy with serious mechanical credibility. Collectors prize its distinctive geometry, imaginative dial work, and the visionary ethos that continues to shape high-end watch design with both sophistication and bold creative flair. GERALD GENTA
Round Three: Anniversary Mania
Can you match the brand or watch to the anniversary celebrated in 2025?
ANSWERS:
270 years - Vacheron Constantin
250 years - Breguet
160 years - Zenith
150 years - AP
100 years - Laco
75 years - Seddiqi
75 years - Orient Watches
60 years - Oris Diver’s Sixty-Five
50 years - GP Laureato
50 years - Bulgari Bulgari
40 years - Citizen Aqualand
30 years - Roger Dubuis
25 years - Gerald Charles
20 years - Hublot Big Bang
20 years - MB&F
20 years - Journe Chronometre Souverain
20 years - Chopard L.U.C Qualité Fleurier
15 years - Laurent Ferrier
10 years - Brew Watch Co.
10 years - Czapek
Round Four: General Horological Knowledge
What was Gerald Genta’s middle name? Charles
In what year was Ulysse Nardin founded?
B: 1846In which US city is Oak & Oscar based?
C: ChicagoWhich of these brands has Manuel Emch not run?
C: MeistersingerWho is the CEO of Patek Philippe?
D: Laurent BernasconiWhich independent watchmaker, winner of the 2018 F.P. Journe Young Talent Competition, is also half of the duo behind SpaceOne watches? Theo Auffret
Today, how wide, to the nearest millimetre, is an IWC Big Pilot automatic? 43mm
Which watchmaker created the first models in the Harry Winston Opus series (comprising a set of three, collectively known as the ‘Opus 1’ set)?
A: F.P. JourneOn the Tissot PRX what did the initials ‘PRX’ originally stand for?
C: Precise, Robust, X=10 (atm)What was the inspiration behind Serica’s lozenge-shaped Parade model, below?
C: A football stadiumWhich brand’s ranges include the Senator collection? Glashutte Original
Where is the Musee International d’Horlogerie (MiH) located?
D: La Chaux de FondsWhich industrial designer, also responsible for France’s TGV, designed LIP’s Mach 2000 chronograph?
A: Roger TallonAt the time of writing, according to MB&F’s website, how many M.A.D. editions have there been? (Variations of one edition, e.g. the green and orange versions of M.A.D. 2 do not count as additional editions). Seven
At Patek Philippe, which case metal is indicated by the letter ‘G’ at the end of a reference number? White Gold
Which watchmaker sponsors the Giro d’Italia cycling race? Tudor
What colour are IWC’s ‘Le Petit Prince’ editions, usually? Blue
Which brand has historically produced the Admiral, Bubble and Golden Bridge designs? Corum
Although well known for wearing Ebel watches earlier in his career, with which brand did tennis star Andre Agassi later partner, serving as a brand ambassador for more than a decade? Longines
What was the name of Gerald Genta’s hexagonal design for Credor?
C: LocomotiveWhere was Abraham-Louis Breguet born?
C: NeuchatelWhy is a soft iron case so named?
D: The iron contains more carbon than normalWhich household item is said to have inspired Anoma’s rounded-triangle case shape?
B: A tableIn what year was the Universal Geneve Tri-Compax introduced?
A: 1944Which animal from the world of fashion did Hublot include in an advertising campaign earlier this year?
C: Karl Lagerfeld’s pet cat
Round Five: Know Your Stones
It has been a banner year for semi-precious stone dials. But can you tell one from t’other? Bonus points for anyone able to identify the actual stones used in each case, but I’m really just looking for the brand and the model. Some brands are featured twice.
This is my favourite part of the quiz and I will be amazed if anyone gets these all right…
And Finally…
Anything you want to talk about, find me in the chat. Otherwise, thank you for reading! See you next week.
BM is a site with a particularly eccentric tone and let’s say a polarising reputation, but it has been right when it counts - for example, during the Omega auction scandal, it was the first title to name everyone involved.
(I looked into it when it was originally reported as seven in five years)
That list in full: Edouard Heuer, Charles-Auguste Heuer, Charles-Edouard Heuer, Jack Heuer, Willy ‘Gad’ Monnier, Christian Viros, Jean-Christophe Babin, Stephane Linder, Guy Semon, Jean-Claude Biver, Stephane Bianchi, Frederique Arnault, Julian Tornare, Antoine Pin
About two weeks these days…
From TAG Heuer to tag, you’re it
TAG Heuer CEO is a prestigious role but man is that one tough gig.
I agree with your sentiment that the product line looks broadly okay – nods to 60/70s heritage, nods the 80s/90s stuff more recently plus some technical innovation.
I really don't know what else you can do when this middle segment of the market is where it is right now.
Enthusiasts will demand 36mm faithful reproductions of Carreras but the brand won't do 1:1 heritage reissues because then why should the modern company exist (and also they would sell very few)?
Different enthusiasts demand lower prices for things like the modern Formula 1 but that is a pricing strategy that leads nowhere.
I can't see an obviously better strategy than the one they're pursuing right now. I would personally go deep on the 80s and 90s stuff like the Senna ana-digi S/EL – and no doubt bankrupt the company.