CEOInterviews.AIDiscover the 60th anniversary Carrera with Frédéric Arnault

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Wei0:02

What's going on guys? Wei from Revolution here at Watch Us and Wonder 2023 with my buddy Fred Arnaud. How are you, sir? After Singapore we meet in Geneva absolutely. Now when we were in Singapore you showed me a watch that just blew my mind, which was the 60th anniversary evolution of the Carrera. Yes, and what I loved about this watch was it just wasn't like a facile repetition of the past. It brought the story of the Carrera from a design perspective forward incredibly. It's a super modern watch yet you understand the identity, and as a result I think it's one of the coolest watches I've seen for a while. So tell me a little bit about that watch.

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Frédéric Arnault0:36

Thank you so much. So in January in Singapore we announced a limited edition for the 60 years anniversary of the Carrera with the Heuer logo with the panda dial, and we announced this was going to be the last watch with this case. And the reason is now we're introducing this watch, actually these two references, where we took the same concept: these lugs, the idea of legibility, this glass box that's so iconic. But we infused in it the elements of modernity that allow us to put a TAG logo and install it for decades to come. The key change is the glass box now goes full width of the watch, allowing a tachymeter scale on a curved dial that counteracts parallax.

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Wei1:27

Yeah, I think that's my favorite element, having the tachymeter on the flange so it's effectively a bezel-less watch. The legibility is phenomenal. And the 39mm diameter feels great on the wrist. I was told you worked on the proportions of the case and the lugs. Can you tell us about that?

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Frédéric Arnault1:50

Definitely. We also made it thinner because it's bezel-less. The size and proportion matter a lot. And it's not just the outside – there's a new movement, an improved evolution of our famous Heuer 02, now designated TH-20. We have bidirectional winding now instead of unidirectional, which makes it a much better experience on the wrist. So bidirectional winding has been added to a movement with a column wheel and vertical clutch, so the chronograph can run all day with no effect on amplitude. The watch is absolutely great.

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Wei2:33

So I guess the question is – I don't expect you to tell me, but I heard a rumor that this beautiful new model will also be the base of a couple of cool limited editions in the future. Not only limited editions – this is just two references, but we have plans to make this collection wider, with new colors, new complications, and some limited editions but very few. We could also go into different universes for the brand. This Is Racing, maybe? And a very strong universe for the brand was sailing – yes, TAG Heuer's intention to go back strongly in sailing. It's a story related to the Intrepid and those incredible colorways that created a watch which I won't name, but that's really cool. If that watch were to materialize in this incredible case, can you say one for me? It will not be a limited edition, so it will be fantastic – just challenging to get, limited production. Okay, let's go from there to this wonderful chronograph you have as well. Has the movement of this also received the bidirectional winding?

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Frédéric Arnault3:44

Yes, definitely. And this is a 42mm, so it's the same idea of the glass box but to make sure we can see the tachymeter well, we enhanced the case and made it a bit wider.

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Wei3:54

Yeah, I love how you've taken the seconds track and moved it to this elevated flange, again eliminating parallax, but also giving the dial so much more volume and visibility. I guess the question I would have is: will you be applying this wonderful aesthetic to all of the icons in the collection, eventually modernizing them in your own very specific way?

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Frédéric Arnault4:16

I think that's really the spirit of our vision for the brands. We did it also for the Monaco that released in January – in a different way, but we capture historic elements: the shape, the pushers, some of the indexes – but make it truly modern with the material of the case, the carbon, and the skeletonized dial. Here again we take some elements from the past – the lugs, the pushers, the glass box – but modernize it with an extended glass box, a new architecture on the dial, the latest movements. That's really the vision we have for the brand going forward. It's great watches.

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Wei4:47

Okay, so let's go from 39mm to 42mm – a Carrera chronograph that's got this wonderful gradient orange colorway. Tell me a bit about this.

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Frédéric Arnault4:55

Yeah, so this is a watch we introduced in 2020. It was a new design at the time, 42mm, and we wanted to add a sporty touch to it, racing. So we have this new second hand that changes shape as well – it's triangular because Carrera is all about the triangle. We have the monochrome, the square, the triangle you can see in the lugs and now in the second hand. And this dégradé of colors from orange to red gives the impression of speed and enhances the racing spirit of this watch.

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Wei5:28

I have to say, within the last year and a half, two years, the designs of TAG Heuer are just smashing it. Tell me a bit about your team – who's on the design team, how do you guys work together?

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Frédéric Arnault5:38

We built a team three years ago for product. Actually we used to externalize design, now we have our own designers in our studio – four amazing designers who live and breathe the brand all day long, inspired of course by the heritage and by everyone who comes and gives input on the watches. That was one of the key successes – building our own internal team.

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Wei6:02

Well, you've got one of the strongest. You've got a great heritage director, Nicolas, who's a friend of ours, and you also have a legend of the watch industry, the incredible Carole Forestier-Kasapi. Can you tell us what her role is and has she had a hand in designing any of these movements?

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Frédéric Arnault6:19

She was very involved in redefining our movement portfolio. One direction for us is going higher in quality. We offer a 5-year warranty, the best standards. We did that on the Heuer 02 and on two new mechanical movements. Carole also pushed us to go further in solar graph technology – you'll see much more of that movement at TAG Heuer in the years to come. She was involved in designing the bidirectional winding, the new oscillations, some key technical elements. Now I think the question you might have is: what about high horology? Clearly we're working on it, but developing new movements takes four to five years, especially for great complications and the best quality standards. This will come in the future. Maybe I can give another teaser: we can see hints of the vision on the high-end horology at the next Only Watch.

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Wei7:11

Wow, amazing. Okay, that's very exciting. I don't expect you to tell us exactly what it is, but do remember you in Monaco telling me it's a complication that Heuer or TAG Heuer has never made, and yet it's the complication you would immediately think we should have made – in a chronograph. So you guys can kind of extrapolate from there. It's really cool – I can't wait to see that watch. Let's talk a little bit about these 36mm Carreras.

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Frédéric Arnault7:41

Yes, so the Carrera is also an amazing watch as a three-hander because it's very legible, great proportions. We have a 39mm that's doing very well and we have a lot of love for this watch. Now we thought let's also make it smaller – 36mm, which was actually the original size for the Carrera. We took this opportunity to bring vibrant colors: pastel green and a vibrant new pink that was already very successful on the Aquaracer, now brought to the Carrera line.

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Wei8:12

And tell us a little bit about this Aquaracer with the collaboration with IMT.

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Frédéric Arnault8:16

Yes. It's the first time we introduce solid gold on this Aquaracer. We have a solid gold case and a steel-and-gold inlay bezel and crown. With this watch we produce a new movement – the first ever in the history of the brand exclusive three-hand manufacturer movement, which will be the basis for many more watches for TAG Heuer. It has 80 hours power reserve, 5-year warranty, chronometer certified – the best quality standard you expect from a three-hand movement.

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Wei8:46

Amazing. Well, Frédéric, I know we're going to do a separate video on the new plasma and the plasma with pink lab-grown diamonds, but I want to thank you a lot for your time, congratulate you again on this absolute beauty. I honestly think – it's funny for me to say on the first day – but I've already seen so many brands and it's one of the best things of the fair. So for those of you in the public, can come here on the public day which is Saturday – you got to come check out the new Carrera, it's absolutely fabulous. I love how boldly it moves the story forward into the future while still retaining the beautiful codes of this watch that we love. So bravo, sir.

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Frédéric Arnault9:22

Thank you so much, Wei. Well done, means a lot to me. Cheers.