Julien Tornare appointed CEO of Hublot, Antoine Pin new CEO of TAG Heuer
Zach Blass- Ricardo Guadalupe to step down as Hublot CEO, appointed Honorary President.
- Effective September 1, 2024, current TAG Heuer CEO Julien Tornare has been appointed as Hublot CEO.
- In turn, Bulgari’s current Watch Managing Director Antoine Pin will succeed Tornare as CEO of TAG Heuer.
The LVMH Watches Division has revealed a CEO shakeup that was more expansive than pundits predicted.
Ricardo Guadalupe appointed Honorary President of Hublot
After 22 years with Hublot, Ricardo Guadalupe has decided to take a step back from his duties as CEO and operational management – transitioning to the appointment of Honorary President of Hublot effective September 1, 2024. The extent of his involvement in this new role remains to be seen.
“Hublot is one of the few watchmaking manufactures that emerged and achieved such success in the 21st century by breaking design codes, communication barriers, and exploring new frontiers in watchmaking. I would like to sincerely thank Ricardo and his teams for their fantastic work building the brand over these past 20 years,” comments Frédéric Arnault, CEO of LVMH Watches Division. “Indeed, for eight years as Managing Director followed by 12 years as CEO, Ricardo truly embodied Hublot and its development particularly through his product vision, deep industry knowledge, and relationships with all business and industrial partners. I know that Ricardo will now continue to ensure respect for the values that have led to the Maison’s success.”
“Ricardo Guadalupe exiting Hublot is effectively the end of an era that began in the early days of Jean-Claude Biver’s riotous reign as Hublot reinventor,” adds Time+Tide Founder Andrew McUtchen upon hearing the news. “Ricardo served many years as Biver’s right-hand man, from 1994 to 2001 with Blancpain, and once again in 2004 when Biver had taken over management of Hublot until Guadalupe’s appointment to CEO in 2012. He was considered by many to be such a natural heir to Biver, that his style and vision was almost an unbroken line. The lineage from Biver to Guadalupe was so natural and such a preplanned succession that there was an indiscernible shift from one to the other in terms of product development and general strategy.”
After a long and celebrated career with LVMH and Hublot, which should be noted is not coming to a complete stop, it’s not a shock Guadalupe has decided to make such a transition. The expansive shuffle that has come in its wake, however, was less foreseen.
Julien Tornare appointed Hublot CEO
While appointed as TAG Heuer CEO just six months ago after a six-year tenure with Zenith, Julien Tornare has now been appointed as CEO of Hublot. With the new post taking effect September 1, 2024, this will mean Tornare will have served as TAG Heuer’s CEO for less than a year once the transition is completed. In the immediate wake of Tornare joining TAG Heuer, he expressed a clear vision for TAG Heuer moving forward at LVMH’s annual watch week – noting a desire to elevate TAG Heuer’s position and standing further in the marketplace along with increasing the finish and quality of its offering beyond the existing standard.
“The transition from Guadalupe to Tornare will be much more noticeable, and will allow Tornare to really flex his talons that were already sharpened at Zenith where he worked with similar product to Hublot in the Zenith Defy Extreme – which, in its essence, has many similar attributes and customer base to Hublot’s customer,” Andrew McUtchen explains. “I have had the pleasure of working closely with Julien on Time+Tide limited editions. Behind closed doors, he is perhaps even more irrepressibly optimistic positive and dynamic than he is on the record, and it’s not hard to figure out how his time at Zenith recentred the brand.”
“He has overseen some of the greatest commercial moments, as well as an unwavering sense of identity that sees some of the biggest weapons such as the expansion of the El Primero movement and the Chronomaster Sport becoming much closer to household names than they were before,” McUtchen continues. “He was a loved leader of the brand, and his team all spoke very highly of him as both a human being and as a professional. It would have been very interesting to see him transition from what is a big player in the LVMH stable at Zenith to what is the second biggest brand for LVMH watches in TAG Heuer. Though, given Hublot’s importance as the stallion with 10% more revenue than even TAG Heuer, it’s clear that they are backing him in as their best-performing watch brand CEO in the current mix.”
While it is sad to see his time with TAG Heuer end rather quickly, my personal experience with Tornare aligns with Andrew’s sentiments. He irrefutably has an energetic personality, and an enthusiastic vision – all of which are characteristics that are a perfect match for an adventurous and material-pioneering brand like Hublot. Fortunately, upon his exit, TAG Heuer will find itself in great hands.
Antoine Pin appointed TAG Heuer CEO
While appointing a man who currently serves as Bulgari’s Watch Managing Director to TAG Heuer CEO may seem like an apples-to-oranges transition, September 1, 2024, will mark Antoine Pin’s return to TAG Heuer after ten years. Pin started his journey with TAG Heuer as a Junior Sales Manager for DFS and Middle-East in 1994, and would go on to serve in various executive roles within LVMH, leaving TAG Heuer as Product Manager and arriving at Bulgari in 2014 as the Managing Director for Greater China and Australia. He would climb to the Maison’s Watch Managing Director in 2019 – a role he will continue to hold until he transitions to TAG Heuer CEO.
With nearly a decade of experience with TAG Heuer in the past, and over two decades with LVMH, Pin’s ample time with TAG Heuer and collective experience with the LVMH Watches Division suggests the brand will leave its keys in the right driver’s hands come September 1. Frédéric Arnault adds in his official statement: “I am delighted to welcome Antoine into our Watches Division at TAG Heuer. His extensive international experience, expertise, and well-recognised passion for watches will be major assets in continuing TAG Heuer’s growth and elevation.”
“It is heartwarming to see Antoine Pin get his chance as a CEO after so many years behind the scenes at Bulgari performing key roles in the watch brand’s transformation led primarily by designer Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani and fully supported and articulated by CEO Jean-Christophe Babin. Pin has been an impeccably groomed and high-performing behind-the-scenes man with vast international experience in regions such as China,” Andrew shares. “Pin has always seemed like CEO material in person and has the kind of rounded personality that does not separate humanity from business. He conducts himself with great warmth and authenticity, and he was very interested in and supportive of me and my family’s relocation to the UK. He is the sort of executive who will learn your kids’ names and ask how they’re doing even with years between interviews or catch-ups. His role in launching the category-transforming Finissimo model cannot be underestimated. He was among a very small group that believed in the watch from its very creation. I can’t wait to see the way his sensibilities guide and redirect TAG Heuer as they continue Tornare and Arnault’s vision to elevate the brand’s position further and create a unique brand identity.” We’re eager to chat with Ricardo Guadalupe, Julien Tornare, and Antoine Pin to learn more about what the future holds.