Day, this year
| Day, this year
|
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|---|---|
 |
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| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1860 |
| Seat |
La Chaux-de-Fonds , Switzerland
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| management | Frédéric Arnault, CEO |
| Branch | Watch industry |
| Website | www.tagheuer.com |
The TAG Heuer SA is a Swiss watch manufacturer , watches and time-measuring devices in the upscale to luxury-priced manufactures. The company, based in La Chaux-de-Fonds , has been owned by the French luxury goods manufacturer Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (LVMH) since 1999 .
history
The company was founded by Edouard Heuer in Saint-Imier in 1860 . In its 150-year history, the company's technicians have made a number of innovations.
Some examples:
- First patent for a stopwatch mechanism (1882)
- First hundredths of a second chronograph (1916)
- First chronograph with world tide display and dial for regattas (1950)
- Third automatic chronograph movement (March 3, 1969),
- First quartz chronograph with analog display (1983)
- First mechanical clockwork with belt drive, linear flywheel and ceramic bearings (2004)
- First mechanical wrist chronograph with hundredths of a second accuracy (2005)
Edouard Heuer exhibited his chronographs at the Paris World's Fair in 1889 . The company has been run by family members for four generations, most recently from 1961 to 1982 by Jack Heuer . Not only did he manage the company as an entrepreneur, he was also actively involved in the design of new watches such as the Carrera model .
The company's products were used, among other things, to measure time at the Olympic Games , the American IndyCar racing series and Formula 1. Well-known chronograph series are Carrera (1964), Monaco (1969) and Formula 1 .
After the merger with the TAG Group (Techniques d'Avant Garde) in 1985, the company was renamed TAG Heuer . In autumn 1996 the company was floated on the stock exchange. In 1999, the French luxury goods manufacturer Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (LVMH) took over the company.
From 1992 to 2003 inclusive, TAG Heuer provided the timing devices for Formula 1 . Today, the timing instruments in Formula 1 are only used by Red Bull Racing and McLaren. Since 2004, TAG Heuer has taken over the official timing of the American IndyCar racing series. On this occasion, TH brought out a limited chronograph with the logo of the Indianapolis Speedway on the dial. The Indy 500 lettering can also be found on the bezel at 1 o'clock, it is set off in red.
TAG Heuer launched three limited-edition chronographs in honor of the Mercedes SLR McLaren .
In 2003 TAG Heuer took over the official timing for the Alpine World Ski Championships in St. Moritz. A chronograph limited to 750 units was built for the occasion.
Prominent advertising media
The company caused a sensation with its intensive advertising with prominent competitive athletes for the Kirium watch series .
The TAG Heuer ambassadors include Leonardo DiCaprio , Cristiano Ronaldo , Martin Garrix , Delta Goodrem , Brad Pitt , Uma Thurman , Kurt Busch , Kimi Räikkönen , Fernando Alonso , Lewis Hamilton , Tiger Woods , Yao Ming , Shahrukh Khan , Sébastien Bourdais and Maria Sharapova . Also posthumously: Ayrton Senna , Steve McQueen , Jo Siffert and Clay Regazzoni .
In collaboration with Tiger Woods, TAG Heuer developed the Professional Golf Watch. The case of this watch is made of titanium, the bracelet is made of highly elastic silicone. The movement is designed in such a way that it is not affected by the violent movements during golf. It is waterproof up to 50 m.
Since the beginning of the 2016 season , TAG Heuer has also been the main sponsor of the Red Bull Racing Team in Formula 1 and finances a.o. a. its engine leasing. The Renault engine was therefore officially renamed "TAG Heuer".
Stopwatches
Heuer also made important technical advances in the development and production of mechanical stopwatches. With the advent and spread of quartz technology and, somewhat later, with digital watch technology, mechanical stopwatches became superfluous and Heuer ceased production. Mechanical stopwatches for fittings in vintage vehicles are of great value today. Such well-preserved timing instruments are used by enthusiasts, for example, in vintage car classics and achieve prices of up to several thousand euros on the market.
Currently available watch collections
- Monaco (1969: second automatic chronograph - worn by Steve McQueen in the racing epic Le Mans )
- Carrera
- Autavia
- Aquaracer
- link
- Formula 1
- Connected (Smartwatch)
Tag Heuer Connected
At Baselworld 2015, Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer, announced the development partnership with Google and Intel . As part of this partnership, a smartwatch will be sold through Tag Heuer's distribution network at a price of $ 1,400. The battery life should be 50 hours. The smartwatch was presented to the public in November 2015. After the warranty period has expired, TAG Heuer Connected users have the option of exchanging the smartwatch for a mechanical TAG Heuer Carrera Caliber 5 Special Edition 46mm for an additional payment of 1500 dollars. In the meantime, the production of the Tag Heuer Connected has been discontinued and continued with the Tag Heuer Connected Modular in sizes 41mm and 45mm.
Well-known historical watch models
Autavia
Autavia is made up of AUT from Automobile and AVIA from Aviation. The Heuer Autavia series is the Heuer series with the greatest variety of models. The most famous watch is the so-called Jo-Siffert-Autavia (after the Swiss racing driver Jo Siffert, who was one of the first to use this watch - probably for Heuer marketing purposes. carried) with a white sheet and blue markers. This watch with an automatic movement was introduced in 1969. However, the dial of this model changed after about a year, as Heuer used the word Chronomatic on the dial . The term Chrono-Matic was already used by Breitling on its watches. As a result, Jo Siffert watches with the Chronomatic imprint are very rare. Today only about 5–6 copies of this model are known. One of them is in the TAG Heuer Museum (not public).
In addition to the Jo Siffert, the models from 1984 are particularly popular. This year the transition from Heuer to TAG and the later brand TAG Heuer was initiated. The models were not very popular at the time, partly because the age of the LCD and electronic clockwork was dawning. One of the rarest watches from this period is the Diver 100 Autavia : Here, Heuer has adopted design attributes from Rolex (Mercedes hands; face with round markers, bezel insert à la Rolex) and combined these with the Heuer look in one watch. The Diver 100 is one of the rarest Heuer Autavia watches ever with around 8 to 12 known examples worldwide.
On the right you can see a collection of so-called Viceroy autavias . These were brought to market in the USA in a cooperation between Heuer and the Viceroy cigarette brand. The consumers of Viceroy cigarettes were able to acquire the corresponding watch for only 88 US dollars through a collection campaign . The rush for this watch was very big, so that at the end of the doctorate, Heuer put together everything that was still available: the watches therefore differ mainly in the use of different bezel inserts: Tachy or MH (hour / minute) were used. Instead of the expensive original GF bracelet with HLF end pieces, a so-called economy bracelet was used. This had HLF end pieces but no GF clasp. The bracelet was produced in Japan and, in addition to the clasp, also has cheaper bracelet links. This sales promotion in difficult times, organized by Jack W. Heuer, enabled around 16,000 such wristwatches to be sold.
Autavia was a sport in Switzerland in the 1920s and 1930s that involved airplanes and automobiles. It is not certain whether the TAG Heuer watches are related to the sport.
Heuer Calculator Automatic
This Heuer automatic watch is equipped with both a stopwatch function and a slide rule.
Carrera micrograph
The Carrera Mikrograph is the first mechanically operated chronograph that was accurate to a hundredth of a second. This mark was surpassed by the Mikrotimer Flying 1000, which was announced by TAG Heuer just three months later and was able to stop the time precisely to the thousandth of a second. As early as January 2012, TAG Heuer overtook this mark again with the Mikrogirder model, which displayed the time with an accuracy of 5 / 10,000 seconds.
Further
- Monaco
- Monza
- Professional 1000/2000/4000/6000 Series
- Temporada
- Skipper
- pulsar
- Easy rider
- Daytona
- Silverstone
- Kentucky
- Indy 500
- S / el series
- Chronosplit Manhattan GMT
- Calculator series
- Montreal
- Film master
- Camaro
- Monte Carlo
- Jackie Ickx
- Cortina
- Verona
- (Bundeswehr) pilot's chronograph 1550
Other products
Groupe Logo Manufaktur has been producing what is known as Sport Vision Eyewear for TAG Heuer since 2002, which includes glasses, sunglasses and frames. These glasses are designed for high loads, such as B. designed for sport or under the helmet during a formula race, the frames are usually made of titanium, aluminum or rubber, which is also used in Formula 1 tires.
Mobile phones and fashion accessories for men (wallets, belts, bags, jackets, bracelets and cufflinks) with the TAG Heuer logo are also offered.
literature
- GL Brunner: TAG Heuer - The mastery of time . Editions Assouline, Paris 2002, ISBN 2-908228-83-1 .
- AM Haslinger: Heuer Chronographs - Fascination with timekeepers and motorsport 1960s / 70s . Callwey Verlag, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-7667-1755-9 .
Web links
- James OH Nason (Editor): The Times of my Life. To Autobiography by Jack Heuer. TAG Heuer , La-Chaux-de-Fonds, 2014 (English, PDF)
- TAG Heuer website
- TAG Heuer Sport Vision series
- Heuer forum "On The Dash"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Joe Breeze: How Jack Heuer invented the Carrera and wrote watch history. Classic Driver April 1, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2017.
- ↑ [1] TAG Heuer: Android smartwatch in analog style
- ↑ [2] TAG Heuer: Exchange your TAG Heuer Connected after the two-year guarantee period has expired
- ↑ [3] TAG Heuer: Tag Heuer Connected Modular
- ↑ Gisbert. L. Brunner: Late satisfaction for great pioneers. In: Handelszeitung No. 47/2017, Watches + Jewelry , page 11.
- ↑ David Chalmers: Hands-on Review: TAG Heuer Carrera Mikrograph. In: Caliber11. January 19, 2014, accessed November 24, 2014
- ↑ David Chalmers: First Look: Mikrotimer Flying 1000. In: Caliber11. March 22, 2011, accessed November 24, 2014
- ↑ David Chalmers: TAG Heuer Mikrogirder: The Inside Story. In: Caliber11. January 27, 2012, accessed November 24, 2014
- ↑ History - 2002. ( Memento of the original from November 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Groupe Logo. Retrieved November 24, 2014
