Frédéric Arnault’s Work at TAG Heuer

By Corina Samaha

Edited by Leah Gilbert, Angélique Gouws

Even for someone who doesn’t know much about the world of fashion, the brand Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) evokes vivid pictures of elegance, luxury, and exclusivity. And as one of luxury fashion’s multiple varied facets, carefully crafted watches evoke a great deal of passion among enthusiasts — my father included. 

It was his interest in watchmaking by industry icons such as Breitling, Omega, Ulysse-Nardin, Breguet, and of course, TAG Heuer that first introduced me to this luxury world. This exposure to savoir-faire showed me that immersing oneself in this niche market presumes a knowledge of the rich history and meticulous craftsmanship. 

Among the giants in watchmaking, TAG Heuer seems to have made a comeback, especially under the leadership of Frédéric Arnault.

Frédéric Arnault, son of LVMH Chairman Bernard Arnault, joined TAG in 2017, and was named CEO in 2020 — making him at 26 years old the youngest CEO of a luxury watch brand. In his six years at TAG, Arnault reinstated the prestige and status once held by the company through innovation and rebranding, proving that his promotion was well-deserved. In 2024, he was appointed CEO of LVMH Watches.

One of the most notable ways in which Arnault revived Heuer was through an official partnership with Porsche. Porsche and Heuer have maintained a longstanding friendship since 1963 but when the TAG group acquired Heuer in 1985, Porsche upheld its unofficial partnership. Heuer had a long history in motorsports, having formerly worked with brands including Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Audi, and Aston Martin. Since then, TAG Heuer has developed chronographs (a combined stopwatch and display watch often in the form of a wristwatch), stopwatches, and dashboard timers which allowed drivers, racing teams, and race organizers to accurately keep track of time in a sport where every millisecond counts.

While it is currently common practice for non-automotive brands to sponsor Formula 1 (F1) teams due to the intimate link between timekeeping and racing, TAG Heuer was the first to do so by sponsoring the Ferrari F1 team in 1971. This was shortly after Jack Heuer — great-grandson of the brand’s founder — created the first Carrera in 1963, a staple model in TAG Heuer’s collection. Arnault paid tribute to this iconic line by reissuing the classic Carrera design while adding a few modern twists, introducing the brand’s timeless watch to the modern era. This revival aimed to appeal to a much younger generation, notably Gen-Z. 

Arnault also included many bold changes in the relaunch of the iconic Carrera Plasma, such as the “resplendent dial” made entirely of lab-grown diamonds. This daring move made TAG Heuer one of the first companies to use lab-grown diamonds in their watches, and the first to use coloured lab-grown diamonds.

While the use of lab-grown diamonds in most high-end watchmakers is unconventional, Arnault’s intrepid choice puts TAG Heuer as a new industry pioneer,  targeting the younger generation of consumers who are increasingly concerned with ethics and sustainability.

The launch of the new Carrera Plasma followed shortly after the creation of the TAG Heuer Formula electric cars racing team. TAG’s sponsorship of Porsche prompted an official union between the exotic car company and TAG Heuer. According to Arnault, the car and watch industries are aligned in their goals of providing the highest quality possible and unique innovative designs through the meticulous craftsmanship of watches and the organization of thrilling races.

As part of his efforts to attract a younger crowd, Frédéric Arnault has also innovated a design allowing customers to display their NFT (non-fungible tokens) artwork on TAG’s Connected Watches, as well as signing contracts with big-name celebrities like Ryan Gosling and Jacob Elordi.

At just 29 years old, Frédéric Arnault has brilliantly engineered a comeback for TAG Heuer, and has successfully reinstated its status within the luxury scene. It is safe to say that we can expect great things from him as the new CEO of LVMH Watches.