Jean-Claude Biver: ‘The Watch Industry Is Not in Trouble, The World Is.’

(businessoffashion.com) - The president of LVMH’s watch division has always been a disruptor. But with the Tag Heuer Connected watch, has he got the solution to a Swiss watch industry in decline? “The industry is not in trouble, the world is in trouble,” he says. While he’s currently charged with running TAG Heuer (of which he is chief executive), Hublot and the lesser-known Zenith, outside watch circles, the name of Jean-Claude Biver carries little weight. But inside those circles, the JCB initials alone induce reverence. At times like these, the industry looks to Biver for answers. What is he doing to reverse the trend? Last year he slashed the prices of TAG Heuer watches, repositioning the brand for a younger audience after a decade spent pursuing the super-rich with low-volume, six-figure complications. At the same time, he signed Cara Delevingne, Cristiano Ronaldo and most recently Formula 1 upstarts Red Bull Racing. Then in November last year, TAG Heuer released its TAG Heuer Connected, Switzerland’s most aggressive answer to the Apple Watch. He claims it’s flying off the shelves. “If you have never worn a watch, the effort to wear a watch is much bigger than if you have been wearing an information tool on the wrist since you were 15 years old. The Connected watch is the best promotional tool for the mechanical watch,” Biver says.