Do we see more investments in Asia, especially China and India?

We had started to aggressively invest in China and India very early on. So to rebalance our investments by geography, a ten years perspective was taken five years ago for India and China and that will continue.

Are you already committed to India?

Yes, when you walk down the street or a mall in India, the brand is much more visible than it used to be earlier. Advertising is powerful. You can see the latest model on the point of sale the same day you see in New York.

Last year we saw your association with F1 SLR GT. These associations are legendary for you in terms of racing. What can we expect this year?

This year we celebrate 40 years of the Monaco. We chose one of the most iconic Swiss timepieces ever. The Monaco collection comes back totally redesigned. We have a new case, a new engine. We are changing the movement; we come up with a new TAG Heuer Calibre.

Left-handed?

No, because when we developed the first Monaco in 1969, it was developed with Steve McQueen and Jo Stewart and they went driving. When you are driving today, you use the pedals. But at that time you had shift gears. It was something different, so as the wrist was moving it was more comfortable to move the crown at nine instead of three. So it was a request from Jo Stewart to put it there.

What about the case?

The case has been redesigned, it’s slightly bigger but it’s a matter of balance, a bit thicker. We harmonise
the dial between the blue face and
the black face closer to the original
one as it’s much simpler. The
sapphire itself strengthens the beauty
of the dial because in terms of luminosity there is nothing better than a sapphire. All in all, when you look at it, it looks
very similar to the existing one but everything is new.

What are you planning as far as the prices are concerned?

An increase, but not too much.
It’s more related to the extra cost that has been incurred to produce. We keep the same conditions,
so this will be one of the Basel heroes. There will be another
but I can’t mention too much
right now. There is going to be
big news on the Aquaracer
series in Basel.