Yahoo Finance ‘It’s Gonna Be Much Louder’: Inside TAG Heuer CEO Julien Tornare’s Roaring Designs for the Chronograph
Any watch brand that belongs to a large group—as TAG Heuer belongs to LVMH—has to play within certain boundaries in relation to its sister brands: Don’t go too far up- or down-market; don’t recreate what the other brands already make; know your global customer base and expand it. Given those assumed restrictions, it’s fascinating to watch TAG Heuer flex a nearly rogue independence from the mid-tier boundaries it has occupied for decades. A solid rose gold Skipper Carrera and a $183,000 Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph drive home the upward latitude the brand’s new CEO Julien Tornare is exploring since taking over in January. We sat down the Tornare at Watches & Wonders for a conversation about how his first 100 days in office are going.
I’m so curious to know, as TAG Heuer is going more and more high end in some respects—did the market dictate that? Is it good to have a watch that speaks to a more affluent audience when times are tough, because the middle market tends to suffer. Was there any thought about that?
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No, not so much. It’s really more about the long-term strategy. I think TAG Heuer in its past has been doing incredible timepieces that have [reached a] really amazing level. And we know exactly where we are, where our core range is based. But we also want to introduce more high-end at all levels, whether in terms of technique and movement, in design, of course, and also the level of finishing. And I think this is the feedback we got from all the markets during the show is that our watches are really, really upgraded. So, it’s not so much about targeting a specific price range, but it’s more about added value to our products.
Do you find that any of the clients are confused by it at all? Are they excited?
No, they understand because they are excited. They see the product, [and] we had so many compliments about that and feedback not only during these days, but also on the market. They can see the level of work, that it’s being upgraded. So, it’s more of a compliment, you know, when you acquire a nice timepiece from any brand. First of all, you want to have the top quality, you want to have the right level of finishing and, again, TAG Heuer was known for its savoir faire for a long time.
You also have Carole Forestier-Kasapi [as head of movements], who is among the best of the best.
Absolutely. She is the queen. Yes.
So I’m sure that there are already plenty of things in the pipeline.
Yes, for sure. I joined the brand three months ago, and it’s a pleasure to have met Carol. I, of course, knew her by name, but I mean she was crucial in the development of the split-scond Monaco that we’re presenting this year. And she has incredible ideas, and you know, my past; you know how much I love high watchmaking. So, it’s a pleasure to have her on board and to work on the future surprises that we’re going to have for our clients.
Right. It’s an interesting tie-in between Zenith and TAG, and the work on those chronographs.
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
So how are you finding it, being just three months in?
I love it. You know, it’s almost 100 days, as we say. It’s been a great journey. I’ve met incredible people, very skilled. The pace is very fast, everything goes fast. The race never stops, as we say at TAG Heuer, and it’s really true. So I love it. I love it. We are starting the season of the Grand Prix. And you know how much we are involved in car racing. So, a lot ahead of us and really a fantastic energy. I think, again, the feedback we got during the show—not only about the product, but about the brand, about the booth, about everything we are presenting—[is] really incredible.
I got a tour of your manufacturer earlier in the week, which was very cool. I hadn’t actually been there yet. And there was some expansion going on there. Could you tell us a little bit about that?
Yes, of course. We have quite a few different projects in real estate. One of them is to increase the size of our manufacturing in La Choux de Fonds by building a fifth building and being able to not only welcome more watchmakers and more technicians to the brand, but also to be able to rethink the whole hospitality strategy. You’ve done the visit, but I really want to put the client at the center of our hospitality strategy. Give us another 18 months, two years, and you’re going to have an incredible client experience while visiting the manufacturer.
Very cool. There’s obviously a lot going on within LVMH watchmaking. It just seems exciting across brands. What’s it been like for you? You’ve been at Zenith, now you’re at TAG. You’ve been seeing the evolution.
It’s been incredible. Yes. I spent almost seven years at Zenith. It’s been a great journey to really rejuvenate the brand—bring it back on track, I would say, with a lot of things, but time went very fast, and I didn’t realize [that]. When the promotion to TAG Heuer came on the table, I was very excited because it’s another learning [experience], you know, it’s another group of people, another team, and it’s different products, and you have another journey that starts. So, I think it’s great. It’s great for the brands, and it’s great for the people to have them move around at some point because you bring fresh blood, new ideas and new management style and all that. So, I think it’s very healthy, both for individuals as well as for the companies.
I see you’re wearing the Skipper.
Yes, I do.
It’s been super popular. Why do you think it has been so popular?
You know, I think first of all because the product is very well executed, As I mentioned before: Whatever the technique is, there is a very high level of finishing, amazing. But also because there is a very nice story behind it. You know, I got to meet Jack earlier three weeks ago, I was very lucky to meet him. He’s 92 years old. We had great discussions on different topics, and the storytelling on that is incredible. I mean, the original one was made in 1968 to celebrate the victory at the America’s Cup in 1967, one year before. Now we relaunched it in steel, now we bring the gold and I think it’s perfect. It’s elegant. There is great storytelling about the regatta and all that, so people love it. You know, it’s a very…how can I say…emotional watch. People really love it.
In terms of that watch being more tied to yachting—and you guys are really known heavily for cars, motor racing—is there going to be any ongoing effort to broaden those categories within the brand? Or you want to stay more focused?
No, I think the main focus and what we’ve mostly known for is our car racing and motorsports in general. So that will be the main focus. But it doesn’t mean we should not celebrate this great watch…and celebrate basically the mindset of TAG Heuer, which is, again: push the boundaries, push the limits, have a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset. You work hard, you will perform, and you will reach your objective. And it’s all about that kind of avant garde and winning mindset that we want to promote. So it goes also into different sports, into different activities. We have ambassadors that are swimmers that are athletes that are tennis players, so it touches everyone, but the main the core of the communication will be around car racing.
Well, speaking of ambassadors, Ryan Gosling’s about as big as they come these days. You guys have had some seriously huge moments with him. Like The Oscars, for one.
Yeah, yeah, he’s a great ambassador. I’m going to be meeting him in in two weeks for the first time, I’m looking forward [to it], because I know he’s very much into the brand. That’s what I liked with TAG Heuer. I was lucky to meet Patrick Dempsey, as well. And they really loved the brand. They love cars, they love the atmosphere. They love the mindset. So that makes these collaborations with them very authentic. And our clients are often talking about it. So yeah, Ryan has been fantastic. He’s done a lot of good things for the brand. And, of course, we have Red Bull Racing, we have Porsche, we have partnerships, celebrities, we really work on that to inspire more people about this TAG Heuer mindset to make them understand what we want to mean by that.
And then a TAG watch is part of the campaign for his new movie as well.
True, true, true, true. It’s a 360 approach. You know, we are really trying to be present in a good way, as much as we can in a way that make sense to us. And I think it’s been working really well. So a lot more to come, you will see during the year—and I won’t talk about ’25, ’26—but we have huge things in the pipe. You will know what I mean later on, but we have great projects. So, we’re just starting to talk loud. It’s gonna be much louder.
Awesome. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much. Good to see you!
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