TAG Heuer
TAG Hauer as we know it today was formed in 1985 by the combination of the established Heuer Group watchmakers with Techniques Avant Garde (TAG). The company is perhaps best known for its sporting connections. Its celebrity list includes Uma Thurman, Tiger Woods and Shah Rukh Khan.TAG Heuer summarises its company philosophy as "a bold and cutting-edge quest for perfection". Its motto is "Swiss avant-garde since 1860".
History
The timeline of today's TAG Heuer begins back in 1860 when Edouard Heuer started a watchmaking workshop in St-Imier in the Swiss Jura region. Heuer was deeply interested in sports and concentrated on building timepieces for sporting people and events. In 1882 the company was awarded a patent on its first chrongraph and has continued innovation to this day.TAG Heuer has been strongly connected with automotive racing since its inception. In 1911 it introduced the first dashboard chronograph and in 1933 launched the "Autavia" dashboard stopwatch for race cars.
In 1916 Heuer released the Micrograph stopwatch, accurate to a remarkable 1/100 of a second. In 1966 the company topped this with the "Microtimer", the first "miniaturized" (by today's standards huge!) electronic timing instrument with an accuracy of 1/1000 of a second. In 2003 this accuracy became available on the Microtimer wristwatch.
2003 was a big year for TAG Heuer and also saw the relaunch of the classic Autavia design chronograph, the launch of the Monaco Sixty-Nine reversible concept watch, the New Link (associated with Tiger Woods) and the SLR Chronograph, an exclusive limited edition for Mercedes-Benz owners.
Today
TAG Heuer's links with the world of sport are reflected in the company's watch collections. This is particularly true in their Link series. The TAG Heuer Link was introduced in 1999 and a new Link collection released in 2005.One very popular model you can buy today is the Carrera. This was launched in 1963 and is named after the Carrera Panamericana road race. The Carrera is available either as a plain watch, as a chronograph or as a Chronograph Tachymetre.
The TAG Aquaracer is another popular sporting model. The Aquaracer is based on the design and features of the 2000 series and is water-resistant to 300 metres.
Specialist models include the TAG Kirium F1 which is cut from a block of solid steel and is available with either vulcanised black rubber or stainless steel strap/band. Another is the Golf Watch with the crown at the 9 o'clock position to avoid interference with the swing.
As well as all the watches aimed at a man, the company also sells a collection for women that reinterprets designs such as the Link and Monaco in more feminine form. There is also the spectacular Diamond Fiction that displays the time digitally through glowing diamonds - only three of these haute couture timepieces have been produced.
Early in 2006 TAG Heuer was awarded the Red Dot Product Design Award for the Calibre 360 Concept Chronograph. This is "the first mechanical wrist chronograph to measure and display time to 1/100th of a second". The company had previously won the Red Dot award in 2005 for the MONACO V4.
If I could buy any one TAG Heuer it would probably be the amazing 2004 concept watch the Monaco V4 Revolution. This innovative design is described as "the first mechanical movement of the third millenium" and involves belts, ceramic ball-races and barrels.
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