The Art of Slowing Down

114: LVMH’s Watch Gamble Isn’t Paying Off - Expert Call Transcript with Former Audemars Piguet Executive

LVMH may sit atop the luxury world, but in the high-end watch market, its strategy is faltering. A former C-Level executive at Audemars Piguet, now working with elite niche brands, offered blunt insight in a recent call: buyers are consolidating around the “big three” (Rolex, Patek Philippe, AP), and LVMH’s watch division, especially Hublot and TAG Heuer simply isn’t competing at the level required.

Despite efforts to elevate Louis Vuitton’s horological credibility, the group’s approach is marred by commodity-style sales execution, under qualified staff, and a lack of product legitimacy. Even with ultra-high-ticket items, availability is not the issue, demand is. The $85k+ Louis Vuitton watch readily available in-store says more about its desirability than its distribution power. Hublot is seen as derivative and tired, TAG is clawing back to its entry-level lane, and even Frédéric Arnault, recently moved to Loro Piana, left little proof of impact.

In short, LVMH’s watch ambitions may read well on a PowerPoint slide, but at the point of sale and more critically, in the eyes of collectors they’re outclassed. Bernard Arnault’s empire may be built for fashion, but watchmaking requires something different: product obsession, brand restraint, and patient credibility, none of which can be fast-tracked.

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