LVMH takes Baselworld by storm

LVMH has communication down to a fine art, as it demonstrated on the opening day of Baselworld 2015, the biggest gathering of watch brands anywhere in the world. The luxury giant’s press conferences produced a host of guests, a wave of new products, strategic plans bringing new partners onboard and, the cherry on the cake, the announcement of a global agreement with Google and Intel to produce a smartwatch. For the space of an afternoon, the group’s three watch brands, Hublot, Zenith and TAG Heuer, hogged the limelight leaving little room for anyone else.

As far as Baselworld real estate goes, LVMH has understood the importance of that old adage, “location, location, location”. Not so long ago, Hall 1.0 – the show’s most coveted spot and something of a members-only club for those at the peak of the profession – seemed to revolve around Swatch Group and its eighteen brands. The multinational dominated the hall, irresistibly luring visitors into its fold. Times change, however, and acquisitions within the watch sector have produced new forces which are evidenced by the arrival of new kids on the Hall 1.0 block. A case in point, LVMH positioned its three watch brands, not forgetting Bulgari, immediately inside the entrance, as though guarding the gates to this inner sanctum.

Jean-Claude Biver, emcee extraordinaire

When it comes to communication, the luxury group has the services of a seasoned professional in the person of Jean-Claude Biver, who a little over a year ago was appointed at the head of its watch division. The man who revived Blancpain, propelled Omega onto the international stage and sent Hublot into orbit certainly knows the ropes. Armed with memorable metaphors, Chinese proverbs and bursts of his famous booming laugh, Biver knows exactly how to hold an audience’s attention. He delivers his convictions with such enthusiasm it would be impossible not to take his every word for the gospel truth. “True success is a love story,” he declared at the Hublot press conference. “Because love lasts for ever. Our watches are made with love and passion. And because they contain love and passion, they carry in them a piece of eternity. I’m convinced that in a thousand years’ time, our watches will still be on our wrists because they will always be repairable. So I’m not afraid to say that Hublot is a philosophy of life. A religion.”

The public of course lapped it all up, and not just at Hublot. Many felt the calling to join this new declaration of faith whereby watchmaking’s new god is love, and carried on in droves to the press conferences at Zenith, then TAG Heuer. On a more pragmatic note, LVMH’s watch division is marking several important milestones this year. Hublot, for one, is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its Big Bang, the face that launched over 300,000 sales and which already ranks as one of the twenty-first century’s iconic watches. To highlight this exploit, the brand presented three new models that show off its expertise in chronograph and tourbillon movements, as well as innovation in materials science with its famous scratch-resistant Magic Gold. Enter the Big Bang Unico Full Magic Gold, the Big Bang Tourbillon 5-Day Power Reserve Indicator Full Magic Gold, and a collection of ten Big Bang Unico “10 Years” Haute Joaillerie.

All not quite revealed

Zenith, meanwhile, was celebrating its 150th anniversary in the company of Felix Baumgartner, the first person to freefall through the sound barrier, and new partner Erik Comas, a Formula 1 champion and now a historic rally championship driver with Lancia Stratos. Joining them was footballer Eric Abidal whose foundation, which works with young cancer sufferers, can now count on Zenith’s support. The brand unveiled the Elite 6150, a contemporary version of a calibre developed in 1994. A commemorative book also traces this century and a half of history.

Yet the brand that truly stole the show would be TAG Heuer. The company began with a presentation of its new timepieces, which are geared around the four themes of sport, art, lifestyle and Swissness. Special emphasis was given to an extension of its Calibre 1887, which has been redesigned around a modular architecture and will be the basis for a future collection. This year it equips a Carrera Heuer-01 skeleton whose high-tech, sporting allure fits the brand down to the ground. This was all interesting stuff, but the really big announcement, described by Jean-Claude Biver as the most important in his forty-year career, came the next day. News that TAG Heuer, Intel and Google are joining forces to produce a smartwatch packed the final punch in the brand’s communication although this was, as it turned out, more a tease than a reveal, designed to keep suspense at its height with nothing said about the price, timeframe or functions of this future connected watch. Information that will no doubt be the subject of another high-profile announcement scheduled for the end of the year.