HODINKEE Podcasts

• The Business of Watches [004] Tag Heuer CEO Antoine Pin On Carbon Hairspring Setbacks, Pricing, Tariffs, And Formula One

  On this week's The Business Of Watches podcast, we catch up with Antoine Pin, the Chief Executive Officer of Tag Heuer. He's having quite a year. The brand is in the first season of a new decade-long deal to be the official timekeeping sponsor of Formula 1. It's a high-profile, multi-brand agreement that, if executed correctly, could launch Tag Heuer to a whole new level of visibility. But it also comes at a challenging time for the global economy and the watch industry in general as soaring input costs, a strong Swiss franc, and U.S. tariffs on Swiss goods take a toll on margins and confidence.Pin tells us Tag Heuer has plenty of experience overcoming tough challenges. When the brand launched the first version of its carbon hairspring technology in 2019, there were issues. But the Tag Heuer laboratory didn't give up, and now it's back with a new version, which it says has overcome the problems. We hope you enjoy our conversation with Antoine Pin. Be sure to leave any thoughts or questions in the comments section, and we'll do our best to respond.Want to subscribe so you never miss an episode? This new show is being published to the original Hodinkee Podcasts feed, so you can subscribe wherever you find your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or TuneIn.Show Notes: 4:10 Tag Heuer at Geneva Watch Days 6:48 Previous issues with carbon9:00 New carbon spring oscillator solution11:10 Silicon hairspring13:00 Tag Heuer Formula 1 15:15 Cautious production20:00 Tag Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph (CHF 155,000) 25:30 Tariffs and price increases 

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• The Business of Watches [003] Georges Kern: The Breitling CEO Talks Growth Despite Challenges Facing The Watch Industry

  Georges Kern is emphatic. The Breitling Chief Executive Officer isn't slowing down on plans to expand his company's reach. Even as U.S. tariffs and economic headwinds challenge the industry, Kern is pushing ahead with planned launches of the Universal Geneve and Gallet brands in 2026. He's already orchestrated rapid growth and value creation at the historic Breitling marque since taking on the top job in 2017. Breitling was sold to private equity partners for less than a billion dollars that year. In late 2022, a change in majority shareholder valued the company at more than $4 billion, sources said at the time.  But now with the industry facing a host of economic and political pressures, Kern's expansion efforts are being tested. In a candid interview, he says the luxury watch industry is poised for an eventual rebound. People won't delay purchases forever, he says, and when they're ready, he expects his growing stable of brands to have the right products to match the wants and needs of new clients.Show Notes:Show Notes:5:00 Breitling's deal with the NFL 5:50 Breitling watches6:00 Morgan Stanley LuxeConsult Watch Market Report 7:10 Breitling Emergency 8:00 Breitling Top Time10:21 Breitling Navitimer 15:30 Panerai 18:15 Breitling to Relaunch Gallet22:30 Universal Geneve 26:10 Hermés Bags 27:00 Price of gold 29:40 How the Swiss watch industry is dealing with tariffs 32:20 What's up with watch prices? 34:30 Swiss Watch Exports 35:40 China Watch Market 38:10 Carpe Diem 

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• The Business of Watches [002] Sylvain Berneron On His Company’s Work Philosophy, Business Structure, And Future Watches

  Sylvain Berneron is in high demand, and so are his watch designs. Just last week, a 34-millimeter version of his debut time-only watch, the Berneron Mirage, came up for public auction for the first time, and bidding soared beyond the CHF80,000 high estimate to fetch a staggering CHF241,300, including fees. Having previously worked in the automotive industry with BMW, Berneron is a designer who has now chosen watchmaking as the canvas to express himself and his ideas. After departing the big brand corporate atmosphere of Breitling, he's enjoyed significant success so far with his own brand and has just unveiled his second collection - Quantième - and an annual calendar that brings a unique, yet superbly finished, movement architecture to the complication that aims to simplify setting and provide a stress-free experience for the user. Sized at just 38 millimeters in diameter and 10 millimeters thick, the dial design is both stunning and innovative in the way the time and date are displayed, while the platinum case features removable (and replaceable) steel elements that act as bumpers and guards for the precious metal. But this podcast is about business, and Berneron indulged us with a lengthy, candid, and exceedingly in-depth discussion about his plan for building a brand and sustainable company that bears his family name. He tells us why he's set up shop in a Swiss industrial park, the business strategy behind limiting production to less than 25 of each specific watch per year, and why he's turned down creative jobs at Rolex and tens of millions of dollars in financing from potential investors despite having barely a holiday or weekend off for the last half-decade. It's a deep dive into the business strategy and plan of a young, driven, red-hot watch brand that's trying to make it for the long haul. We hope you enjoy. Show Notes:3:20 Berneron Quantième Annuel 4:45 Berneron SA 6:20 Panerai manufacture in Neuchatel 13:00 BMW Research and Innovation Centre13:40 Breitling 18:20 Ben Clymer on founding Hodinkee and a professional life in watches24:00 White label watch manufacturers in Switzerland include companies like Roventa-Henex 25:50 Swiss watch components makers include companies like Acrotec, the biggest supplier 32:15 Breitling Sells Controlling Stake to CVC Capital32:50 Nicolas G. Hayek Sr. 40:20 Building Resilient Teams: What Business Can Learn From Military Cohesion 42:20 Employee Share Plans In Switzerland: A Regulatory Overview47:00 Long-term commercial lease agreements in Switzerland: An Overview49:00 Panerai 51:10 Hands On Review Of The Berneron Mirage59:30 Family Offices 1:11:00 Mountain Survival Tips for Beginners1:12:03 Audemars Piguet Buys Key Supplier1:16:30 GPHG Audacity Prize Awarded to Sylvain Berneron1:17:00 Why Using Your Last Name Is The Last Way To Name Your Company (Forbes)1:18:56 Business Ethics Key Principals (Investopedia) 1:19:02 Simon Sinek 1:21:35 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People1:23:10 MB&F1:23:20 Simon Brette1:23:25 Xhevdet Rexhepi 1:23:28 Rexhep Rexhepi 1:23:30 Petermann Bédat1:24:50 When Art Is Putting Yourself In Danger (CBC) 1:26:30 The Art of War (Sun Tzu) 1:27:06 Trust The Process (Simon Sinek) 1:31:49 The Transformative Power of Sabbaticals (Harvard Business Review) 1:37:00 Luxury and Socially Valued Behavior (Columbia Business School)1:38:05 Germany's Car Industry Crisis 1:39:00 Hans Wilsdorf Foundation 1:41:00 Inside Rolex (Ben Clymer)1:45:00 Patek Philippe Calatrava Collection1:45:45 Fiasco (Wikipedia) 1:46:20 Batman Two-Face 1:53:00 Fathers Give Watch Collecting Advice (Hodinkee)1:55:20 Christopher Ward1:55:45 Swatch Group 1:58:00 MoonSwatch Phenomenon (Hodinkee)

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• The Business of Watches [001] Rolex, The Making of a Status Symbol With Author Pierre-Yves Donzé

  Welcome to the first episode of a brand new podcast for Hodinkee. It's called The Business of Watches, and it's hosted by me, Andy Hoffman. Each episode, delivered once every two weeks, will feature conversations with authors, CEOs, industry insiders, and fellow journalists as we uncover the business behind your favorite watches and watch brands. Want to subscribe so you never miss an episode? This new show is being published to the original Hodinkee Podcasts feed, so you can subscribe wherever you find your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or TuneIn.Episode 01 - Rolex, The Making Of A Status Symbol With Author Pierre-Yves DonzéNotoriously secretive when it comes to its operations and accounts, there haven't been a lot of business-focused books on Rolex, the biggest and most successful Swiss watch brand. At least until now, that is. Academic and professor of business history at Osaka University, Pierre-Yves Donzé is the author of The Making Of A Status Symbol, A business history of Rolex translated and published in English this year.  We wanted to start our new podcast, The Business of Watches, by talking about the most important Swiss brand, and Donzé serves as an ideal guest, explaining the decisions and events that shaped Rolex into what it is today. The episode is full of revelations, from how Rolex dealt with the business challenges of a strong Swiss franc and the arrival of quartz, to how the brand overtook Omega in sales, and the critical role the U.S. has played in the company's history and success. Thanks so much for listening, and be sure to drop by the comments section if you have any thoughts or questions on the episode. We'll be back in two weeks with another episode of The Business of Watches. If you have any questions for an upcoming Q&A episode, please leave them in the comments below. This episode of The Business of Watches is brought to you by Panerai. Click here to learn more about the Luminor Collection.Show Notes: 3:40 The Making Of A Status Symbol, A Business History of Rolex (Manchester University Press)5:25 Pierre-Yves Donzé7:25 Rolex 10:30 Hans Wilsdorf15:00 Rolex Kew A16:01 COSC18:10 Aegler SA and Rolex20:50 UK taxation during WWI24:30 Rolex Oyster case26:00 Panerai 28:05 Rolex company history 1926-194530:50 Rolex Cosmograph Daytona32:00 André Heiniger33:50 Hans Wilsdorf Foundation35:20 Rolex Explorer Ad 1960s (Ad Patina)36:38 J. Walter Thompson 39:20 Arnold Palmer (Rolex Magazine)40:30 Mark McCormack 43:30 Omega 45:00 Placido Domingo 47:00 Rolex Oysterquartz51:26 Rolex Lady-Datejust53:30 Rare interview with Rolex CEO Jean-Frédéric Dufour about Watches and Wonders (NZZ)1:00:30 Rolex Land-Dweller Business History

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• Watches & Wonders 2025: Daily Episodes Live From Geneva | Day 4

  It's the last day of the show, and James is joined by Malaika, Mark, and Tim to discuss our general impressions of the show, Tim's experience as a first-timer, and some of the highlights we saw from a day full of meetings with Sinn, Bulgari, Laurent Ferrier, Parmigiani, and more. We hope you loved the episodes, and if you want more podcasts about the fair and all the new watches, let us know in the comments.

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