IN CONVERSATION WITH JEAN-CLAUDE BIVER
Mike Tay: Mr. Biver what do you consider your biggest contribution to the Swiss watch industry?
If you were to count in terms of business, it would have to be the time I spent at Omega. Because there you count the success in terms of billions of dollars. Many of the things that were put in place when I was working there are now just as effective. Omega is still James Bond’s watch. Cindy Crawford and now her daughter Kaia are both still ambassadors. This is the anniversary year of NASA’s Moon landing and it was when I was at Omega that we started to communicate this heritage again.
Wei Koh: How did Omega become James Bond’s watch?
You never had James Bond wearing an Omega. Never. In all the books he was wearing a Rolex (Explorer 1016). Amusingly when they were shooting the first film Dr. No the story is that it was the director of the film, Terence Young, or the producer Albert Broccoli, who put his personal Rolex Big Crown Submariner (6538) on Sean Connery’s wrist. Initially, Connery shot this scene and one of these men said, “Hey, there is a watch missing.” He must have a watch if he’s an ex-military man. They asked, “Have we organised this?” The reply was no, so they put the Rolex on him.
The point is that Rolex never took advantage of this. What you need to understand is this: If you simply put a watch on an actor, people will eventually not even notice it. Maybe a few collectors or specialists, but most people will not notice it. When the James Bond films started again, after the Broccoli family had settled their dispute for heritage and all of that, they made an agreement with Universal Studios to make a new film. And then Universal Studios and Aeon
