Where Did Tag Heuer Watches Come From?
Tag Heuer was opened by a man called Edouard Heuer in Switzerland in 1887, his first invention being the oscillating pinion; its use continues to this day in many chronographs. Tag Heuer's origins trace right back to 1860 when he opened a small workshop in Saint Imier when he was just 20 years old.
Heuer started out as just that and later rebranded itself as Heuer Tag, and throughout its long but great history has been associated with chronographs and timers. In 1911 Heuer invented the time of trip which was an on board chronograph, known for its installation within the instrument panels of cars and aircraft. The newfound device was used to indicate the duration of any journey.
Later in 1949 Heuer went on to invent The Solunar at the request of Abercrombie & Fitch, this watch was capable of indicating tides accurately, he was only 15 years old at the time with a little help from his physics teacher Dr. Heinz Schlit the watch was brought into circulation.
Next came the Carrera chronograph in 1963 famously named after the Carrera Panamericana car race in the 1950s, this was Jack's first solo designed watch; it was highly reliable and looked pristine.
Joining Forces
A true piece of history for Heuer was joining forces with Willy Breitling and splitting the cost of making the first self winding chronograph. They had to join forces because Heuer knew the cost of his research and development would be huge. The code name for their mission became project 99 and later went on to be named Caliber 11 when it was launched in 1969.
Next in Heuer’s career came the Monaco, he released this because he felt he had to disassociate his personal models from the Caliber 11 Breitling models which featured the same movement. The Monaco was the world's first automatic chronograph and featured a water resistance square case. Have you heard of Steve McQueen who starred in the film Le Mans he famously wore it one year later.
Heuer was always interested in motorsport and shared a close business relationship with team Ferrari during the 1970s both as a sponsor and official timekeeper. In 1973 the microsplit 820 was released as a collaboration between Heuer and quartz, known to be the world's first pocket sized sports timer; its accuracy was 1/100 of a second.
Tag Heuer To This Day
Fast forward to 1985 when TAG group purchased Heuer and rebranded and became TAG Heuer. Some years later Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) but on this rare occasion the brand's name remained the same.
TAG Heuer is a brand that can easily be accessed by everyone with some watches costing less than £1000, they are made to a very high standard and often feature complex mechanics.
The TAG Heuer brand is becoming ever more popular and is desired by the general public. The range they offer is endless and you could say the buyer is almost spoilt for choice. The Formula One, Aquaracer, Link and Silverstone are always favourites but the most sought after would have to be the Carrera and the Monaco.
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