Interview: Bulgari CEO Jean-Christophe Babin On Profitable Tremendous Watchmaking & Managing

I’ve recognized Mr. Jean-Christophe Babin since he was the long-lasting chief of TAG Heuer watches. What I recall most about his time throughout the dynamic days of TAG Heuer within the 2000s was how properly he represented the model by sporting the model’s then-popular line of glasses with the red-colored arms splashing heat shade throughout the facet of his face. Mr. Babin was liable for essentially the most superior and attention-grabbing high-end TAG Heuer watches of recent occasions.

Mr. Babin’s profitable tenure at TAG Heuer was reworked into a chance to run Italian luxurious home Bulgari when LVMH acquired the corporate round 2011. After this time, LVMH’s watch product division was break up between “the 2 JCBs,” as Jean-Christophe Babin led Bulgari and Jean-Claude Biver headed TAG Heuer, whereas operationally overseeing Hublot and Zenith, as properly. With Mr. Biver’s latest retirement, now Jean-Christophe Babin is essentially the most skilled and profitable watch product supervisor on the group, whereas the extra junior however energetic Stephane Bianchi runs the LVMH watch division and sits because the CEO of TAG Heuer.

Bulgari’s popularity with regards to high-end watchmaking has been reworked over the previous couple of years because of quite a lot of necessary developments and initiatives. First got here the acquisition of manufacturers Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta, which in keeping with Mr. Babin actually propelled Bulgari’s fantastic watch making division in quite a lot of key methods, permitting the model to complement its extra mainstream luxurious timepiece choices with extra prestigious enthusiast-grade merchandise, in addition to extraordinarily authentic unique fashions with accordingly extremely advanced mechanisms. In 2016-2017, Bulgari known as upon aBlogtoWatch to assist inform the story of the way it was making status mechanical timepieces, and I used to be personally very impressed to see the extent of in-house capabilities at Bulgari with regards to necessary duties corresponding to making actions, making circumstances, and making dials. I thought of the marketing campaign a hit, on condition that lots of people who thought of Bulgari a “vogue model” realized that it was additionally a really severe watchmaker.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, I spoke to Mr. Babin, who was good sufficient to come back into the workplace for our interview. Whereas spending time in social isolation, he has been in a position to consider the way forward for the model, methods to enhance the corporate, and the actual character he needs Bulgari to have within the eyes of lovers and luxurious followers all over the world. Bulgari is uncommonly dynamic within the watch area, as its character as an organization may be very properly break up between the worldwide headquarters of the model in Rome, Italy and the watchmaking division which primarily based in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

In August Mr. Babin will debut some necessary information in Geneva that may little doubt be attention-grabbing for watch collectors. The information was alleged to be launched by now, however was essentially delayed by the cancellation of Baselworld, in addition to Geneva Watch Days. We should wait till August to listen to the information, however till then I invite the aBlogtoWatch viewers to get pleasure from this attention-grabbing and enjoyable interview with probably the most necessary and attention-grabbing managers within the luxurious watch business. Thanks once more to Jean-Christophe Babin to your time! I all the time discover our conversations rewarding and your tales to be enlightening.