An exclusive interview with Corum’s new CEO Jérôme Biard

Thanks to the efforts of our contributor Olivier Müller, we are pleased to bring you an exclusive first interview with the new CEO of Corum, Jérôme Biard (photo), this week. It is the first time he has spoken to the watchmaking press since his appointment and, since it’s an opportunity that arose at the last minute, we’ll keep you in suspense about which day we’ll publish it (at the time of writing I don’t even know myself!).

Few watch brands can pull off an event where there is barely a watch in sight, but when Paul Pogba, Alec Monopoly and Jean-Claude Biver are sharing a stage at the Theatre of Dreams, great media coverage is guaranteed. I was the only watch journalist to attend the unveiling of the giant mural painted by TAG Heuer’s resident art provocateur at Old Trafford last week, so while the British tabloids joined the scrum to get a word in with the Manchester United striker, I was free to chat with Alec Monopoly and the TAG Heuer CEO about art, football and, of course, watches. After talking about the artist’s watch preferences, this week I will share Mr Biver’s impressions of TAG Heuer’s first season with Manchester United and as an official timekeeper of the English Premier League as the new season gets underway.

As if we weren’t already seeing red with the colours of TAG Heuer and the Red Devils, we start the week with a focus on Louis Moinet’s Red Eclipse model, which is a tribute to the brand’s origins as the inventor of the chronograph.  The name comes from a red moon engraved on the winding rotor, which is depicted in “eclipse mode”.

If you were following the IAAF World Championships in London recently, you will have noted the controversy surrounding the exclusion of Botswana’s Isaac Makwala from the 400m final. This paved the way for Wayde van Niekerk to take gold in the race with a brand-new Richard Mille RM 67-02 on his wrist. I take a timely look at this new ultra-lightweight piece on Thursday. There was a silver lining for Makwala, who came back later in the championships to beat van Niekerk to the finish line in the 200 metres final.