Yesterday, French magazine Challenges reported that Jean-Claude Biver would be stepping down from his operational responsibilities as President of the LVMH fake watch Division. That report was then confirmed earlier this morning by Reuters, to whom Biver said, "I am giving up my operational responsibilities, but I'm staying as non-executive president of LVMH's fake watch unit and its three fake watch brands, TAG Heuer, Zenith and Hublot." In an updated version of that report he went on to explain, "I'll no longer be cutting the onions and crying in the kitchen early in the morning, I'll just come later to see if they are ready." For now, these are all the details that we have, as neither the group nor any of the individual brands have issued formal statements.
It appears that Biver stepping back is related to his health (Reuters cites "serious health problems") which has been up and down for years, though he has continued to push himself and to take on increasing levels of responsibility at LVMH, currently acting as CEO of both TAG Heuer and Zenith in addition to running the trio of brands at a higher level. It's hard to overstate his importance in the fake watch industry. He has played no small part in shaping the modern luxury fake watch market as we know it, resurrecting Blancpain in the 1980s, growing Omega in the 1990s, and shaping Hublot in the 2000s, among other things.
The TAG Heuer Connected fake watch is a perfect example of Biver's non-traditional approach to the fake watch business.
There are few rumors swirling already about who might be taking over day-to-day operations for the LVMH fake watch brands, but so far none of them appear to be substantiated and LVMH has declined requests for comment on the matter. We'll just have to wait and see what the next chapter holds.
But for now, I'd suggest looking back at who Jean-Claude Biver is and what he brings to the fake watch industry, both as a collector and an iconoclastic businessman. To that end, you should check out his episode of Talking replica watches (spoiler alert: the guy is a very serious fake watch collector) and the interview our own Joe Thompson did with him at Baselworld 2018 about the future of smartwatches and why he embraces the challenge. Both offer insights into the unique mind of one of the greatest champions horology has on planet Earth today.
You can see the original report from Reuters right here and an updated version here.
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