“A WATCH SHOULD HAVE
“A WATCH SHOULD HAVE SEX APPEAL” TAG HEUER MODULAR 45 THE TAG HEUER MODULAR 45 is the follow-up to the Swiss watchmaker’s first smart watch, the TAG Heuer Connected, which was first launched in 2015. Building on the success of the group’s first attempt at penetrating the smart watch market and heralded as one of Mr. Biver’s boldest moves to date, the Modular 45 measures 45mm in width and 13.75mm in thickness and is made up of a number of interchangeable components, including cases, bracelets, lugs and bezels, meaning it can be customised in almost infinite fashion. Designed and manufactured in high-quality materials at TAG Heuer’s new manufacturing facilities in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the watch is labelled with the same Swiss Made seal of quality as the company’s mechanic time-pieces. While aiming at the highend luxury market, the watch packs the same functions as other smart watches, including an Intel Atom Z34XX processor, 512MB main memory and 4GB of storage. Compatible with both Android and iOS and waterproof to 50 metres, it includes an accelerometer, gyroscope, tilt detection sensor, microphone, vibrations/haptics engine, ambient light sensor, GPS, and NFC payment sensors for wireless payments. You’ve done almost all there is to do in the watch industry and you’re a self-made millionaire. Most people your age would be planning their retirement. What makes you carry on? It’s not an ego thing or even about wanting to achieve something; I’ve already fixed four watch brands. I’m not doing it just to make more money either – as long as my family is okay, I don’t really care. It’s about the passion I feel for the job. For me it’s an expression of love – it keeps me awake, energises me, makes me feel optimistic, provides vision and keeps me in touch with many people. It is this love that enthuses others who then give so much back in return. Retirement would mean turning my back on that and these people, and that’s why I’m not ready to give up just yet. You’ve been innovating all this time, throughout your career. How do you keep getting new ideas and inspiration? Almost subliminally – ideas just come to me at dinner or while I am skiing. I have a pretty good nose for trends and am easily inspired when I am in the most important trendsetting cities such as London, Tokyo, New York and Berlin. Twelve years ago, I saw they were selling black plastic watches in Japan and had the idea of developing a black ceramic watch, which became the Hublot Big Bang All Black. This has since been picked up on by numerous watch brands. A similar thing happened with my watches in fluorescent colours, which we have had in our line-up for over three years. Neon colours were a 1980s trend which had gone out of fashion. 44 THE JAGUAR
INTERVIEW The new TAG Heuer Modular 45 is Biver’s latest attempt to upend the difficult watch market. The concept offers a feel of luxury not usually associated with digital timepieces A lot of luxury brands employ people to scout out the latest trends, but you don’t. How do you keep on top of trends like these to know what’s hot and what’s not? Actually, my youngest boy is my trend scout. He’s 17 and can teach me a thing or two – I fear I can’t learn anything from my seniors. My son teaches me a great deal about brands I’ve not even heard of, and we often travel to places to discover brands – this is how I learned about Palace, Supreme and Off White. After Supreme joined forces with Louis Vuitton my son really took me to task, saying: “I’ve been telling you for three years that TAG Heuer and Supreme should be collaborating with one another and you were jumped by Vuitton. Way to go! You could have been there first.” It was the same with rapper A$AP Rocky who is now working for Dior. That said, Alec Monopoly, Bella Hadid and Cara Delevingne were his ideas, and are now brand ambassadors for TAG Heuer. You’ve taken up a new job too, at Zenith. As with many other Swiss watch brands, it has seen challenges over the past couple of years: what can you do to overcome these? First of all I’ll have a close look at every part of the business and will listen to what each employee has to say. Occasionally I stay there overnight to truly understand what it is that makes the manufacture so special. We are creating works of art that last for an eternity, the art of watchmaking. However, we can’t let it revert to a museum; we must stay progressive. This is why the new Zenith caliber, able to measure to the nearest hundredth of a second and featuring two patented carbon coil springs, has been named the “Defy El Primero 21” in defiance of the 21st century. Zenith’s best ambassadors are its creativity, identity and quality paired with tradition and culture. That will never change and has been a true success story – as are clever partnerships such as our collaboration with Range Rover. This reflects your famous saying that “a watch should possess character”. What does that mean? Any watch should have sex appeal, and possess soul created and conveyed by the watchmaker. A watch is a kind of talisman: I always wear my first All Black and I firmly believe that it is my lucky charm. Cars by the way are created in a similar way. What is a car’s purpose? The driving experience should be more than just transport. I once owned a 1966 Jaguar E-Type with a 4.2 litre engine. The smell of the leather seats, the satisfying clunk of the doors shutting, the sound of the engine – all these things created a particular sense of occasion. I prefer cars that exude their tradition and that have been created by craftsmen. It gives them soul. Finally, you’ve been quoted for saying that taking over at Zenith will be your last big job. Still, as we sit here it doesn’t seem like that will necessarily be the case? Is there a next step in the business for you after all? Zenith will be the fifth major watch brand I lead in my career, and I do believe it will be my last. But likely, I will see what happens next, and then I might just prepare for slowing down once I turn 75. But I put the emphasis on the “might”. THE JAGUAR 45
