Earlier this month, to support the launch of the recent Skipper-inspired Carrera โGlassboxโ chronograph, Mr. Nicholas Biebuyck, TAG Heuerโs erudite director of all things heritage, flew from his habitual perch in Switzerland to meet with collectors and lifestyle journalists based in Australiaโs major urban centres.
Iโve had the immense pleasure to know Nicholas for almost the entire time that Iโve worked in publishing. In an industry where people routinely regurgitate brand talking points and orate with all the charisma of an expired tin of pineapple, itโs nothing short of impressive how much you learn in conversation with this Essex-lad-done-good, whose polymath experience working across all facets of watch culture has taken him from London to Hong Kong; Monaco to Sydney, and countless other places besides.
In spite of some slight jet lag, Boss Hunting sits down with the new TAG Heuer Heritage Director (Nick was appointed to that position in 2021) for a far-ranging discussion about his own multi-decade career; where his world, of archival research and culture preservation, intersects with product development; and, naturally, the many avenues one has for getting into some serious vintage Heuer collecting.
Editorโs Note: This interview was edited for clarity and length.
INTERVIEW: Nicholas Biebuyck, Heritage Director of TAG Heuer
Randy Lai: Letโs just jump straight in, shall we? For watch lovers who donโt already know the story โ how did you end up at what is essentially one of the biggest commercial watch brands in the world?
Nicholas Biebuyck: Where to begin [laughs]?
I think most people will know Iโve had a passion for watches for quite a while now. Iโd always been fascinated by the culture. That itself came out of a childhood spent following historic racing.
Though I come from fairly modest origins; growing up, my father would still take me around Europe and the UK (on the back of an old motorcycle) for events like Silverstone Classic and Goodwood Revival.
When you attend events like that, youโll inevitably spot racing cars with the Heuer logo โ so it was around then that I started to become interested in watchmaking.
RL: Right. And when you came of age and started working professionally, did you jump straight into the watch industry?
NB: Well, what basically happened was that Iโd been studying mechanical engineering at university and got kicked out in my final year for not having done any work [laughs].
Then, after a brief stint in the UK manufacturing industry, I randomly met Paul Maudsley โ whoโd go on to get me my first auction-related job at Bonhams.
But โ as you well know โ for a lot of people working in the auction business at a young age, itโs generally because Papa collects Rothkos or the family has an amazing cellar of Domaine de la Romanรฉe-Contiโฆ
RL: Professional nepotism, for good or ill [laughs].
NB: Indeed. But for me, I was basically having to decide between my train fare and lunch most days.
At Bonhams, I started off in the motoring department before eventually going into watches. In between, I did a stint working for VistaJet (mainly in West Africa) before coming back to the house to support its Hong Kong-based watch department in 2014.
I spent a year and a half there before eventually joining Christieโs in 2016. As it turns out, that was pivotal: because I was introduced through that role to the team at TAG Heuer. They saw me as the obvious candidate to take over the mantle of looking after the brandโs Heritage Department; and even though it meant moving my family halfway across the world, I still think it was worthwhile.
RL: Right. Iโd like to zoom out for a second to talk about the business end of your role at TAG Heuer.
Would you mind walking us through a typical exercise at the company which might involve the Heritage Department working in real-time with the development team and watch designers?
NB: I always answer this question by quickly first explaining what the Heritage Departmentโs historical role is.
Firstly, our job is to preserve the DNA of the Maison: meaning the paper archives; physical assets like watches, dashboard timers, racing equipment โ you name it. All told, we have around 100,000 paper assets and 3,000 watches to take care of: so that whole process is [pauses] quite involved.
RL: Sounds very comprehensive. And the next?
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NB: Well, that would be our responsibility to share this stuff with the world.
Of course, weโve got the Musรฉe TAG Heuer in La-Chaux-de-Fonds but (as youโve just seen here today) we routinely send historical pieces to various overseas markets, including Australia. This is part of a 12-kit push weโre doing globally, in order to celebrate the Carreraโs 60th anniversary this year.
RL: How many watches are being flown overseas in total?
NB: 60. Each โkitโ follows a similar format, charting the trajectory of Heuer watches through the 50s and 60s. So, that means there will be a pre-Carrera, first-gen Carrera, Carrera โDatoโ, our first automatic chronograph and then the solid gold Ref. 1158CHN.
Donโt get me wrong: if we have a watch in โnew old stockโ condition, Iโm very much about keeping it at HQ to be used as a benchmarking example. But, 99% of the time the watches weโre handling for bigger activations have already lived a life.
For me, itโs important that we continue to use these mechanical objects as their makers intended. So, in that spirit, we service them and then try to either wear them ourselves or put them in the public conversation.
For example: weโve currently got watches on loan with the production teams for Barbie and Ferrari. Iโm always also on the lookout for pieces that would suit our ambassadors like Patrick Dempsey or Jacob [Elordi].
But to answer your questionโฆ
RL: Yes, thank you [laughs].
NB: The Heritage Department has a peripheral involvement in the design and creation of new TAG Heuer products.
Basically, what that means is, at the beginning of a new project, Iโll give the product department a briefing (informed by our archival research) and share information our team deems to be relevant. Having said that, most of our watchmakers know I have a passion for the technical stuff: so theyโll show me prototypes over which we always have lively discussions.
RL: Great stuff. Would you mind telling us a little bit about the watch youโre wearing today?
NB: Iโm actually [gestures] double-wristing. On one hand, Iโve got an original Ref. 2447NST from around 1968. This is in the โreverse pandaโ configuration with the tachymeter scale around the edge; fitted with an original Gay Frรจres beads-of-rice bracelet. Pretty solid condition.
On the other, Iโve got the new 39mm โGlassboxโ, also in the reverse panda configuration, in order to show the side-by-side nuances between vintage Carreras and what weโve created for the watchโs 60th anniversary.
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RL: Lovely. The 2447 youโre wearing actually got me thinking: given your experience as Heritage Director, what is the rarest and, conversely, most overlooked vintage Heuer reference out there?
I think this is the sort of intel that works well for enthusiasts who want to get into collecting the brandโฆ
NB: I mean, from a โproduction numbersโ perspective, weโve got obviously got stuff like the original black Monaco (Ref. 74033N) introduced in around 1978. It never made the official catalogue: in part because the Monaco was technically discontinued in 1974.
So, given the very short lifespan and the fact that the black-coated Monaco was never intended to be a true commercial launch, itโs obviously a seriously rare quantity.
RL: Personally, Iโve only seen them come up for public sale once or twice in the past 8 years. There just arenโt that many in circulationโฆ
NB: Absolutely. At the end of the day, weโre talking about no more than several hundred watches. To be fully transparent: Iโve bought a few extra pieces for the museum because โ as you can clearly see โ weโre using them as inspiration for future products.
Beyond that, weโre fortunate to have a number of references that are highly collectible based on the strength of their historical provenance. For instance: any of the driver-owned 1158CHNs (those solid gold automatic Carreras) or any of the 6 โSteve McQueenโ Monacos worn on-set for the filming of Le Mans (1971).
These kinds of pieces are the real rarities.
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RL: Right. But then, conversely, Heuer also has a fantastic reputation among budding enthusiasts too, no? With a number of exciting vintage references that wonโt necessarily break the bankโฆ
NB: Absolutely. The good news is that, weโre kind of spoiled for choice when it comes to value-driven vintage. The Ref. 1163 Autavia is a good place to start: particularly the black-dialled versions like the โViceroyโ or โDerek Bellโ. These are part of the early lineage of automatic chronograph watches at Heuer; and you can buy them for about US$4,000-$5,000.
Beyond that, if you want something a bit more classical, youโve got the early Ref. 2447 and 3647 Carreras. Good ones range anywhere between US$5,000-US$10,000. The reverse panda variation Iโm wearing goes for significantly more than that; but the single-colour dials remain highly accessible.
And the thing is, for me: the Carrera is just a really really fabulous watch to own. In terms of legibility, balance in the design language, construction โ nothing comes close.
RL: Agreed. Changing gears again, Iโd like to hear a bit more about your personal connection with TAG. As somebody who knows the product and the strategy of watch brands extremely well, what unique โX factorโ do you think TAG Heuer brings to the table?
NB: I mean, if you recall, in my previous life as a journalist I swore Iโd โnever join a brandโ because I didnโt really see any reason why Iโd want to tie myself to wearing a fixed set of watches for the rest of my life.
But, in truth, when I saw a company like TAG Heuer which is down here [gestures] and it should be up there; I felt compelled to do anything I could to support the [pauses] return to a key position within the market. The fact is: historically, our stiffest competition came from Rolex and Omega โ that association is not insignificant.
Then, of course, thereโs the storytelling and our rich connection to motorsport. Today, every watch executive and their dog wants to talk about sponsorship and ambassadors, but it was Jack Heuer who laid down the code for this. And I think thatโs very much underappreciated.
RL: I think in the context of TAG Heuerโs relationship to racing, the word โgenuineโ often comes to mind.
NB: Absolutely. Nobody else comes even remotely close.
I mean, alright: Rolex might be able to talk up the Daytona, but when they launched the watch in โ62 it was originally called the Le Mans. They had no prior associations with that race. Whereas (as you know) weโd been active in F1 and endurance for years beforehand.
RL: You mentioned earlier that the Heritage Department generally doesnโt involve itself at an active level in the development of new product; but I know for a fact that youโve deviated from that standard practice for this yearโs Only Watch entry โ TAG Heuerโs first ever split-seconds Monaco.
What can you tell us about your involvement in that, in conjunction with Carole Forestier-Kasapi, Movements Director at TAG Heuer?
NB: I know she hates me talking about her like this [laughs] but Carole is truly one of the greatest people Iโve ever worked with.
The old proverb โwalk softly and carry a big stickโ is what best describes her, and early into my tenure at TAG Heuer, I was extremely keen to meet with her because she just has such a monumental reputation within our industry.
We started hanging out and having these sorts of weekly reflections about what the future of โfine watchmakingโ looks like at TAG Heuer. So those conversations built and built, until we were able to distil that idea down to a few key points: like how we blend compelling storytelling with an avant-garde attitude towards innovation.
RL: And was Heuerโs heritage in the development of split-seconds stopwatches something that factored into the decision to create make it the โheroโ of this yearโs Only Watch piece?
NB: I mean, when you drill down, the fact is that the chronograph is an extremely key part of our companyโs history in so many ways; and the rattrapante is the โkingโ of chronographs. So, bearing that in mind, it was sort of inevitable that weโd settle on a complication inside that sphere.
But after that, it was a case of identifying a movement we could work with; and a partner who could give it real-world application.
Obviously, itโs a big investment (in terms of time and capital from our side) so we were very upfront with the Only Watch team about our intention to make this technology the foundation for commercial releases in future.
