A Background to TAG Heuer Watches

A Background to TAG Heuer Watches

The foundations on which TAG Heuer has built its strength over the last hundred and forty or so years were in place very early on. Entrepreneurship, innovation and an obsession with ultimate precision are qualities that the three Heuer men introduced that have come to be synonymous with TAG Heuer still today. For this reason TAG Heuer watches are quite often at the forefront of watch-making technology, and have been since early on. For example, as far back as 1916 the oscillating pinion added to the Mikrograph made this model the world’s first mechanical stopwatch that has proven to be accurate to one hundredth of a second.

Like some Well-known watch brands like Michael Kors, Invicta Watches, Omega Watches, TAG Heuer Watch always offered an extensive range of chronographs and watches. In the 1930s they launched a range of chronographs for pilots. The triple calendar chronographs were introduced in the 1940s, and more rugged and robust watches in the 1950s, including dashboard timepieces that were very popular amongst many leading rally teams.

In 1969 Heuer broke with tradition and created the first square-cased, water-resistant watch: the Monaco. This watch is also widely accepted to be the world’s first automatic chronograph. This claim has been contested, as a number of watch makers were working to produce an automatic watch around the same time. But, it was Heuer, Breitling and Hamilton-Buren that were the first manufacturers to produce and distribute automatic watches, the Monaco for Heuer, for markets around the world.

The Monaco is definitely one of their most iconic models. This particular model became an instant hit when in 1970 the Hollywood actor Steve McQueen wore a Monaco watch in the classic car racing film, Le Mans.

Like most of the prestigious Swiss Manufactures Heuer was hit by the quartz-boom and the cheaper‘Japanese watch invasion’. In 1984 the Heuer company was sold to the Akram Ojjeh TAG-Group and the brand name changed to TAG-Heuer. The original Heuer models were replaced with new ones, and TAG-Heuer changed from being from a manufacturer that specialised in chronographs, stopwatches and sporting events timing, to a luxury watch manufacturer with an emphasis on ‘avante garde’ design; hence the name ‘Techniques d'Avante Garde’.