What Watches Do the Watch Bosses Wear? We Found Out
At this year's Watches and Wonders in Geneva, we asked the horological honchos about their chosen timepiece
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This week I have mostly been inside an 810,000 sq ft exhibition hall attached to Geneva Airport, where some 45,000 guests wandered about gathering promotional tote bags, refuelling on complimentary Coke Zeros and comparing notes on the 54 top-tier watch brands, including Rolex, Cartier and Patek Philippe, that had unveiled their latest collections of watches. It was at the 2024 Watches And Wonders trade fair.
Watches And Wonders is the biggest event in the watch world calendar and getting bigger every year, as Matthieu Humair, chief executive of the Watches And Wonders Geneva Foundation (ie: the boss) told me over strong coffee at 9am sharp on Wednesday morning.
Double the number of people were attending compared to 2022, with new watchmakers – including Bremont, Nomos Glashütte and H.Moser & Cie – plus a brand new annex to house them – being added for 2024.
“It is a super-positive step for us, and for the city of Geneva,” Humair said, keen to stress how the audience for the fair was skewing younger than ever.
“It is important that we reach the next generation of watch fans. It’s what we want and it’s what the maisons want. We have already begun work on next year and we have more and more brands asking [to join] all the time. The key is making sure we maintain a high level of brand.”
According to my colleague and Wristwatch Yoda Robin Swithinbank writing earlier this week in the New York Times, last year’s fair had a global reach of 700 million people – and if that doesn't shift you some watches, nothing will.
But it begs the question: what watches do the watch bosses wear to the big event? They spend all day talking up their brand’s products, but what timepieces do they opt for on the day itself? Well, we asked them.
Frédéric Arnault, CEO, LVMH Watches
Tag Heuer Monaco Split-Seconds
"A pièce unique gifted to me when I left my old job [CEO of Tag Heuer] to take up my new role [CEO of LVMH Watches]. It is one-of-one, and engraved on the back."
Michel Navas, co-founder and master watchmaker of La Fabrique du Temps Louis Vuitton
Gérald Genta Triple Calendar Moonphase, in yellow gold
“A perpetual calendar from the late 1980s. I like it for two things that are very rare. The waterproof case, which makes it a bit thicker. And these side lugs, where most of [Genta’s watches] had centre lugs – it’s not a typical Genta. So I like it because it’s different. I have not tried it in the shower, no. But I got it [pre-owned] because it was described as 31 [millimetres] and I knew it was 36 because of the reference number – inside information, kind-of – so they made a mistake on pricing.”Laurent Feniou, managing director, Cartier
Cartier Tank
“Today my watch is 'just' a Tank. But it is 100 years of Trinity [Cartier's tricoloured jewellery collection, that now includes bracelets and cufflinks], launched in 1924 – so it is the combination I'm wearing that makes it special. The watch on it's own is still a classic, of course."
Fabrizio Buonamassa, product creation executive director, Bulgari
Bulgari Bulgari (2024 edition), in yellow gold
“I've loved the Bulagri Bulgari from the beginning [1975]. And, honestly, I am here [in this job] because of the advertising campaign that I saw in 2001, when I was in Turin. I saw a picture of this watch in aluminium and I said ‘But this brand is fantastic!’ The Bulgari Bulgari was born at a time when the watchmaking world was very different. The round case and the unique thickness – the double logo [the brand name written twice around the bezel] reminded me of a coin. Bulgari was very popular in the 1970s thanks to the wave of La Dolce Vita. But it was super-expensive. Bulgari Bulgari was the first watch with a certain price point that was ‘affordable’.”
Nicholas Biebuyck, heritage director, Tag Heuer
Heuer Carrera reference 1158 / Heuer Carrera ‘Dato’ 45 reference 3147
“These are two museum pieces. This one is from 1971, one of the earliest 1158s – it launched with the silver dial, then it came with the champagne dial and the famous ‘champaign noir’ version that the [motorsport] drivers wore. Mario Andretti wore this exact configuration. And this ‘Dato’ from 1968 is quite cool because it was issued to the Royal Jordanian Air Force. It’s got a case back engraving.”
Keith Metcalfe, European director of luxury, eBay
Baume & Mercier Clifton Automatic Calendar Moon-Phase Chronograph
"My 'smart watch', for important meetings, which I have some of today. I love the dial. There's a lot of detail but it's still really paired-back and elegant. Yes, I got it on eBay. £1,600 - so it qualified for our Authenticity Guarantee. I'm really pleased with it."
Benoit de Clerck, CEO and president, Zenith
Zenith Defy Skyline Chronograph
"Incredibly comfortable and light. The strap's amazing, and of course it has the El Primero 3600 calibre. Yes, I'm a little biased but this is an incredible watch."
Ricardo Guadalupe, CEO, Hublot
Hublot Big Bang Unico, in blue ceramic
“I always dress in blue! It was introduced two years ago, in this blue version. I like the Velcro strap, too – because you can really feel it fits well. The mix of a sporty strap with this high-tech watch is excellent, too.”
Nicholas Biebuyck, heritage director, Tag Heuer (again)
Tag Heuer Formula 1 Mk 1, in plastic (circa 1986)
"My travel watch."
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