New in 2019, the Hublot Big Bang
Unico Paraíba White Gold.
The new TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre
Heuer 02T Tourbillon Nanograph
failed, where I have friends and enemies.
ARE YOU AT ALL WORRIED ABOUT THE SWISS WATCH INDUSTRY?
Not at all. The industry has never been so successful financially. We have
seen a lot of restructuring. All the major brands are extremely healthy. I see
a lot of great plans and great shops, wonderful distribution networks, and
many young people involved. I don’t think I have seen the industry as strong
as it is today.
The watch industry has an enormous advantage over others because
everybody else today is surrounded by products that will become obsolete
– your car, your washing machine – everything will become obsolete. Every-
thing you have will have to be thrown away. But at the watch is eternal. It
will work for hundreds of years.
The watch is a piece of eternity. And it is also a piece of art. And art is
eternal, by definition. We all want to be linked to eternity, and the watch is
46 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SUMMER 2019
an extraordinary product because it will never die. There are not many such
products, but a watch is one. This is why we call watchmaking an art. An
Apple watch, a Samsung TV, these will die.
DOES THE GREY MARKET CONCERN YOU?
There have always been people who want to sell things cheaply. There is
nothing new about this. But who is responsible for the gray market? Look to
the consumers, like with the drug market. Look to those who delivered too
many watches to the consumers in order to get a bonus, to show they can
sell more watches. It’s done by the brands themselves. If you sell to some-
body more pieces then they can absorb, you don’t respect your brand.
WILL YOU BEGIN A FOUNDATION OR CHARITY OR A SCHOOL?
Not the watchmaking school, because I am not a watchmaker. I would prefer
a marketing or a commercial school. Or a charity.