Tag Heuer CEO Frédéric Arnault on the new Monaco Chronograph Night Driver and today’s luxury watch buyers

Tag Heuer has an enduring connection with motorsports and a long history with Formula One. How do these influence the design and technology of the timepieces?
Our connection to motorsports dates more than six years back. We were the first official timekeepers of Formula One and have sponsored many teams, including Team Red Bull Racing. Formula 1 is a huge source of inspiration for our watches like the Carrera and the Monaco for the Monaco Grand Prix, as well as for the movements. These are mainly chronograph. Sometimes we link it to the world of racing. For instance, in our latest Chrono Sprint watch that we released last week. The world of racing is present across all of our watches. We know that we have a lot of customers who race and love sports cars.

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The Tag Heuer universe is rich with partnerships and collaborations with various sports and notable personalities. Do you have a favourite partnership that means the most to you?
I have a sweet spot for the collaboration we have with Ryan Gosling, especially with regards to the new film that he did (Barbie). We redefined the way to partner with an actor. Besides campaigns, we also work on movies. He wore the Tag Heuer Carrera Three Hands in Netflix's The Gray Man and also wore our three different vintage Carrera chronographs in Barbie, that best fit his character of Ken, as well as a hot pink Carrera Date at the Toronto premiere. He has many projects coming up, in which Tag Heuer will have a role to play.

What have been your biggest achievements since taking on the role of CEO?
I launched a transformation of the brands, starting with the product and brand innovation to reflect a renewed vision and strategy. We invested on our icons, like the Carrera and Monaco, the quality, the movements and resale value of the watches. A lot of our watches have a resale value that is above retail price, because we make sure that our customers are true lovers of the brand, and control the quantities that we produce.

One of the biggest achievements is the retail transformation. We transformed our stores from almost exclusively multi-brand distribution to ones that offer much better direct service towards the customer. We have boutiques in Singapore, with Ion Orchard, Wisma Atria and Marina Bay Sands and have upcoming projects such as Raffles City. Refocusing on our core values of sports performance and avant-garde precision through our partnerships and communication really differentiates us in our industry.

How do you nail that balance between preserving Tag Heuer’s heritage of traditional watchmaking and smart innovations?
It took some time to get the whole team, partners and customers on board with the changes because they were used to something else for many years. We did things people didn't necessarily expect, but that they accepted very positively. One example is we’re going to relaunch the Skipper. It’s a watch that a lot of collectors loved, but it had no place in our collection anymore. We relaunched it as a modern watch that will stay in the collection at a much higher price point than the usual average price for Tag Heuer. It was very positively received. 

Could you tell us about the Tag Heuer market in Singapore? What are people buying in Singapore?
We have a base of fans and collectors that have been present for many years in Singapore. These comprise lots of racing enthusiasts but also more and more young collectors. The latter are not necessarily buying the entry price point watches. We saw that with the latest release of the Monaco Skeleton. Although it has a high price for Tag Heuer, we are attracting younger collectors more so than for the vintage-inspired watches. The sports enthusiasts are mainly men, but we are watching what appeals to women. We have a strong offer here with the 36mm Carrera, especially with the bright colours. The Aquaracer also has this sporty accessible look.

Could you share your goals and your vision for Tag Heuer?
Our transformation is still in the process. The objective is to stay consistent. In the past, the brand suffered from a lack of consistency and too many changes in vision and direction. It’s also important to think five to ten years ahead. Right now, we have set the foundation for the next 10 years. We have to ensure that we are consistent with this vision.

What else can we anticipate in terms of future collections?
I won’t reveal any collaborations because we have some that are expected, like the one with Porsche. But we also have others that are completely unexpected, such as the Super Mario and Mario Kart. When we go into unexplored territories in watchmaking, customers like it and also expect that from us. We will continue to do these surprising collaborations that will generate also a lot of buzz for the brands and the watches. There are also some past collections we haven't touched yet. One we’re excited about is the Formula One from the ’80s. We have a lot of people coming back to it, so why not rethink and redesign the collection?

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