HEUER TAG WATCH - Luxury Watches

TAG Heuer is a Swiss watchmaker known for its mid - high range sports watches and chronographs. It is a division of leading luxury goods company LVMH. The company motto is "Swiss Avant-Garde Since 1860". TAG Heuer traces its roots to the Swiss village of St-Imier where, in 1860, watchmaker Edouard Heuer opened his first shop. His vision was to create remarkable timepieces that pushed the envelope of innovation and precision. The company's reputation grew and Heuer's first patent for a chronograph mechanism in 1882 was followed by a long list of achievements: the first stopwatch accurate to 1/100 of a second, the first dashboard stopwatch for race cars, the first miniature electronic timekeeping device accurate to 1/1000th of a second, and the first automatic movement with a microrotor, to name just a few. Heuer's reputation for gold-standard precision earned the company the privilege of providing official timing services for a number of world-class competitive sporting events, including the Olympic Games, the FIS Ski World Cup, and the FIA Formula 1 World Championships. To this day, TAG Heuer maintains a close association with the world of competitive sports and enjoys a devoted following among sports celebrities and enthusiasts. In 1985, Heuer joined the TAG (Techniques D'Avant-Garde) group, and the TAG Heuer name and logo were created. Now one of the most recognized and sought-after watch brands in the world, TAG Heuer continues its reputation of innovative design and technological excellence.

Tag Heuer Watch - Current models

TAG Heuer focuses primarily on chronographs with some less expensive models in each line with non-chronograph features. The lines include Monaco, Carrera, Link, Aquaracer, Kirium and others. Automatic (self-winding) movements and water resistance are the norm, as well as sapphire crystals and sometimes also windows on the back of the watch to view the movement.

At the end of 2003, TAG Heuer ended its association with F1 as the official timekeeper, allowing the way the graphics are displayed to undergo a facelift in 2004 where Siemens replaced TAG as the timekeeper. It signalled the end of the large black overlays which were an icon during the late 90s and early 2000s.

Some of the more recently announced models include the Monaco V4 (the movement of which is driven by belts rather than gears); the Carrera Calibre 360 (the first mechanical wrist chronograph to measure and display time to 1/100th of a second); and the Monaco 69 (featuring both a digital chronograph accurate to 1/1000th of a second and a traditional mechanical movement, with a hinged mechanism allowing wearers to flip the watch between its two separate dials).

History of Tag Heuer Watch

1800s

Edouard Heuer founded a watchmaking company in 1860.

Some early highlights of the company's early history include the following: In 1869, Edouard Heuer patented the first crown-winding mechanism for pocket watches. In 1889, during the Universal Exhibition in Paris, the Heuer company won a silver medal for its collection of pocket chronographs. In 1911, the company received a patent for the "Time of Trip", the first dashboard chronograph.

Tag Heuer Chronographs - Early 1900s

Ed. Heuer introduced its first wrist chronograph in 1914. The crown was at the twelve o'clock position, as these first wrist chronographs were adapted from pocket chronographs. In 1916, Heuer introduced the "Micrograph", the first stopwatch accurate to 1/100th of a second. In 1933, Heuer introduced the "Autavia", a dashboard timer used for Automobiles and Aviation (and thus the name "Autavia"). The companion "Hervue" was a clock that had an 8-day movement (meaning that it could run for eight days without being wound).

Luxury Swiss Heuer Tag Watch - Mid 1900s

In the early 1950s, Heuer produced watches for the American retailer, Abercrombie & Fitch. The "Seafarer" and "Auto-Graph" were unique chronographs produced by Heuer to be sold by Abercrombie & Fitch. The "Seafarers" had special dials -- with blue, green and yellow patterns -- that showed the high-tide and the low-tide. This dial could also be used to track the phases of the moon. Heuer introduced its own version of this chronograph in the late 1960s, known as the "Mareographe". The "Auto-Graph" was produced in 1953 and 1954, and was designed to compute the speed of an automobile over a measured mile.

In 1958, Heuer introduced a new line of timepieces, designed to be mounted on the dashboard of an automobile -- or an airplane or boat. Leading models of these dashboard timers included the Master Time (8-day clock), the Monte Carlo (12-hour stopwatch), the Super Autavia (full chronograph), Sebring (60-minute, split second timer) and Auto-Rallye (60-minute stopwatch). Heuer continued to manufacture this line of timepieces, into the 1980s.

During the period from the 1950s through the 1970s, Heuers were popular watches among automobile racers, both professionals and amateurs. The Autavia chronograph was introduced in 1962 and featured a rotating bezel, marked in either hours, minutes or with a tachymeter scale. The Autavia name had previously been used on Heuer's dashboard timers (described above). The Carrera chronograph, designed by Jack Heuer, was introduced in 1963, and became a design icon, known for its clean lines. Most of Heuer chronographs from this period used movements manufactured by Valjoux, including the legendary Valjoux 72 movement (for a 12-hour chronograph).

Heuer acquired the "Leonidas" brand in the early 1960s, with the combined company marketing watches under the "Heuer-Leonidas" name. One of the designs that Heuer acquired from Leonidas was the "Bundeswehr" chronograph, used by the German air force. These "BWs" feature a "fly-back" mechanism, so that when the chronograph is reset to zero, it immediately begins running again, to time the next segment or event.

In 1969, Tag Heuer was part of a partnership (with Breitling and Hamilton), that introduced the first automatic chronographs. Heuer's first automatic chronographs were the Autavia, Carrera and Monaco. These chronographs were powered by the Cal 11 and Cal 12 movements (12-hour chronograph); Cal 14 movement (12-hour chronograph and additional hand for GMT / second time-zone); and the Cal 15 movement (30-minute chronograph). An unusual feature of these chronographs was that the winding crown was on the left, with the pushers for the chronograph on the right. The earliest of Heuer's Cal 11 chronographs (from 1969) used the Chrono-Matic name; soon after that time, Heuer discontinued its use of that reference.

Sports Watch by Tag Heuer 1900s

In the early 1980s, Heuer introduced a series of chronographs powered by the Lemania 5100 movement. These chronographs have the minute hand for the chronograph on the center pinion (rather than on a smaller register), greatly improving legibility. This series of chronographs was considered to be very rugged and durable.

TAG Heuer was formed in 1985 when TAG (Techniques d'Avant Garde), manufacturers of high-tech items such as ceramic turbochargers for Formula 1 cars, acquired Heuer. Together they modernized the product line and became one of the biggest names in Swiss watches.

On September 13, 1999 TAG Heuer accepted a bid from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton S.A. of 1.15 billion francs ($739 million) contingent upon a transfer of 50.1% of stocks.

Awards

In 2007 TAG Heuer has won the iF product design award for its Monaco Calibre 360 LS Concept Chronograph. The award was given away by the International Forum Design Hannover GmbH, which is held in Hanover, Germany. The watch received the prestigious award in the Leisure/Lifestyle category. It was chosen among more than 2,200 timepieces presented by watchmakers from 35 countries. In the period between March 15 and August 2007, the watch could be admired at iF design exhibition. TAG Heuer received the iF product design award for the second time in the last two years. In 2006 another TAG Heuer watch, entitled Professional Golf Watch, won in the same Leisure/Lifestyle category. The design of the Professional Golf Watch was developed together with Tiger Woods.

Trivia

In 1962, Heuer became the first Swiss watchmaker in space. John Glenn wore a Heuer stopwatch when he piloted the Mercury Atlas 6 spacecraft on the first US manned space flight to orbit the earth.This stopwatch was the back-up clock for the mission, and was started manually by Glenn 20 seconds into the flight. This stopwatch is currently on display at the San Diego Air and Space Museum.

A Heuer stopwatch can be seen and heard in the opening to the news program 60 Minutes. Viewers who requested them from CBS received a free sample of this stopwatch.

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