TAG Heuer CEO Antoine Pin steers brand into a new era

[SINGAPORE] When Antoine Pin stepped into the chief executive officer role at TAG Heuer last September, it marked his third tenure at the brand – and a deeply personal homecoming. The LVMH veteran began his watchmaking journey here in 1994.

“When I finished school, I did my military service, and right after, I got into my car, crossed from France into Switzerland and started working for TAG Heuer,” he recalled.

Pin, who previously helmed Bvlgari’s watch division, was in Singapore during the Grand Prix weekend, when he spoke with The Business Times. TAG Heuer hosted a meet-and-greet with Red Bull Racing driver Yuki Tsunoda at its Formula One-themed pop-up at ION Orchard.

Just months into his appointment, TAG Heuer made one of its boldest moves yet: announcing its return to Formula 1 as Official Timekeeper for the 2025 season. TAG Heuer has a long history with the sport, having previously served as timekeeper from 1992 to 2003, in addition to being the first luxury brand to sponsor a Formula 1 team, with its logo emblazoned on the cars of Scuderia Ferrari in 1971.

The comeback, backed by a decade-long partnership reportedly worth around 150 million euros (S$226 million) annually, was paired with a reboot of TAG Heuer’s iconic Formula 1 watches from 1986 – now equipped with eco-friendly solar-powered movements – unveiled at Watches and Wonders this April.

The timepieces also included several limited-edition models named and released at various races around the world.

Pin frames the partnership as nothing short of fundamental. “There is no better way to express the brand value… and the notion of ‘designed to win’,” he said, referring to TAG Heuer’s new tagline.

Beyond brand synergy, he also sees in F1 a shared foundation of precision engineering and performance-driven innovation.

With the sport enjoying a global resurgence and a new generation of fans flocking to it – thanks to the popularity of the Netflix series Formula 1: Drive to Survive, the recent F1 Hollywood blockbuster starring Brad Pitt, and young drivers with huge social media followings – Pin believes the timing is ideal. “We’re poised to engage a younger audience in the complexity and beauty of watchmaking,” he said.

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That momentum is already visible online: TAG Heuer currently records “the largest number of interactions on Instagram” and has seen “significant growth in traffic since the beginning of the year”.

More than Formula 1

Despite the brand’s deep-rooted racing DNA – forged by the pioneering chronographs Jack Heuer created in the 1950s and 1960s – Pin is adamant that Formula 1 is “just one facet of a diamond”.

“We were at two America’s Cups, and back in the eighties we were at the Olympics. There’s tremendous diversity in our sports engagements,” he noted.

At Geneva Watch Days in September, TAG Heuer extended that scope even further, debuting the Carrera Astronomer.

The poetic complication reconnects the brand with its spacefaring history, most notably when American astronaut John Glenn wore a modified 2915A Heuer stopwatch during his 1962 orbital flight – a milestone that, Pin points out, predates Omega’s Speedmaster becoming NASA-certified.

The Astronomer’s unexpected release and avant-garde moonphase display exemplify TAG Heuer’s appetite for disruption. “It’s the same spirit our forefathers had,” Pin said.

Building bonds

For Pin, however, success is ultimately measured not in partnerships or product launches, but in the strength of the brand’s emotional resonance.

He recalls meeting a knowledgeable and passionate customer who brought his son into the boutique the day before this interview took place.

“This is the emotional bond we forge with our clients,” he reflected, “The memories and the connection we build with them over the years is the most important.”