Expected but not quite so soon, longtime Hublot chief executive Ricardo Guadalupe is retiring after two decades at its helm, first as managing director for eight years followed by another 12 years as chief executive, during which he oversaw the expansion of Hublot’s manufacture as well as collaborations like the Daniel Arsham pocket watch.

Now 59 years old with some four decades in the watch industry, Mr Guadalupe will be replaced by Julien Tornare, who was only just named to the top job at TAG Heuer in January 2024 when Frederic Arnault was named chief executive of the LVMH Watches Division. In turn, Mr Tornare will be succeeded by Antoine Pin, who was most recently head of Bulgari’s watch business. Who succeeds Mr Pin has not yet been officially announced. All the new appointments take effect come September 1, 2024.

From left: Julien Tornare, Frédéric Arnault, Ricardo Guadalupe, and Antoine Pin

Mr Guadalupe is a watch industry lifer, having started in the business at Bulgari in the mid 1980s before moving to Blancpain and then Hublot. For about a year now, Hublot insiders have been saying Mr Guadalupe appeared ready for retirement, though the announcement still comes as unexpected.

Slated to become the Honorary President of Hublot after he steps down, Mr Guadalupe’s retirement might be due in part to the marked slowdown in the watch industry, which no doubt contributed to the significant management overhaul at Richemont, where new faces were appointed to the chief executive post for the group, its largest brand Cartier, and its second largest, Van Cleef & Arpels.

With Mr Tornare in the job at TAG Heuer for just seven months, his move to Hublot does not feel like it was long planned. He comes to Hublot after a brief stint at TAG Heuer where he had insufficient time to make his mark, but before that Mr Tornare had seven years at Zenith where he oversaw a near-doubling of sales with bestsellers like the Chronomaster.

Taking over TAG Heuer is Antonine Pin, an LVMH veteran who has been with the group for over three decades. Under his watch the Bulgari watch division set records for ultra-thin watches and revived historical classics like the Bulgari-Bulgari.