Vogue talks to Andrew about trends for 2024
Russell SheldrakeTrend forecasting is always a fun and perilous game in the watch industry. With the industry seemingly in such a volatile state, it can be hard to predict the direction of the wind, but Vogue Business’s intrepid Laure Guilbault felt like reaching out to the experts in order to figure out what might happen in watches this calendar year. With names such as Cartier CEO Cyrille Vigneron, TAG Heuer CEO Julien Tornare, Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe, and our very own CEO and Founder, Andrew McUtchen providing keen insight on what they expect over the next 12 months.
This article is one of those rare opportunities you get to an understand what a wide section of the very top of the industry are predicting for the future. And these are, more often than not, the decision makers in the market. While these types of pieces can often be used by those leaders to almost manifest what they want to happen, it is interesting nonetheless to hear from those who call the shots and get an understanding of how they see the near future playing out.
Learning what Vigneron thinks about the ultra-luxury segment, and how it will transform this year shines a light on what Cartier’s strategy here could be. But then to have someone such as Georges Kern, Breitling CEO, come back and talk about the importance of the middle market only goes to show how wide and varied the market still is.
Andrew speaks to just how important it can be to have an icon in your stables when it comes to brand recognition, referencing the powerhouse that is the Cartier archives, and how well Bulgari has done in building up the Octo line into one of the most recognisable silhouettes on the wrist. “Cartier is flush with icons, its archive is endless,” he says. “If you don’t have an icon in your back catalogue, you have to work hard to create a modern icon for yourself. Bulgari had a promising shape for men’s Octo, it was only when they created the ultra-thin version, Octo Finissimo, that the shape resonated and instantly became a platform.” But all of these industry leaders can only tell us so much. None of them have that magical crystal ball to perfectly predict the future, even us watch journalists never have the impact we wish we did.