Tag Heuer

Since 1860, LVMH-owned Swiss luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer has been combining technological innovations, high-precision timekeeping and cutting-edge designs to create the finest watches. 

1860. Saint-Imier. Twenty year old Edouard Heuer decided to found his own watchmaking brand by breaking away from the time-honoured protocols. Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer AG was launched and Edouard Heuer patented his first chronograph in 1882 and in 1887 patented an "oscillating pinion" still used by renowned watchmakers of mechanical chronographs. 

In 1911 Heuer received a patent for the "Time of Trip"- the first dashboard chronograph designed for use in automobiles and aircrafts. Heuer introduced its first wrist chronograph in 1914.  In 1916 Edward Heuer's son- Charles-Auguste- introduced the "Mikrograph": the first stopwatch accurate to 1-100 of a second. This was soon followed by the “Semikrograph”.

Tag Heuer continued pushing the limits of watchmaking technology with innovations and savoir-faire and subsequently spearheaded innovations that left their mark on watchmaking history. In 1933 Heuer introduced the "Autavia": a dashboard timer for automobiles and aviation. The companion "Hervue" was a clock that could run for eight days without being wound. From 1935 through to the early Forties.. Heuer manufactured chronographs for pilots known as "Flieger" chronographs. The earlier version featured a hinged-back case and one pusher while the later version had a snap-back case and a second pusher. These Flieger chronographs had two-registers with a capacity of thirty minutes. In the mid-Forties Heuer expanded its line of chronographs to include two- and three-register models and a three-register chronograph that had a full calendar function. 

Each of the Swiss-made watches exemplifies know-how and high precision standards. In the early-Fifties Heuer produced "Seafarer" and "Auto-Graph" for American retailer Abercrombie and Fitch. The "Seafarers" had dials that showed high and low tides and also tracked the phases of the moon. "Auto-Graph" -in 1953 and 1954- featured a tachymeter scale on the dial and a hand that could be preset to a specific point on the scale. This complication allowed a rally driver or navigator to determine whether the car had achieved the desired pace over a measured mile.

Heuer soon became renowned for manufacturing timepieces to be mounted on the dashboards of automobiles, aircraft and boats. In 1958 Heuer introduced a new line of dashboard timepieces which included Master Time- Monte Carlo- Super Autavia Sebring- and Auto Rallye. Heuer continued to manufacture these dashboard timepieces into the Eighties when it finally discontinued them. The company also introduced timing devices for ski and motor racing events including Formula One..  masterfully designed- each of these collections has gained an iconic status.

From the Fifties through to the Seventies, Heuer was popular among automobile racers for creating the world's most accurate timing instruments.. achieving an accuracy of 5-10000ths of a second. 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 crewed space flight to orbit the Earth. PS this stopwatch was the backup clock for the mission and was started manually by Glenn twenty seconds into the flight!! It is currently on display at the San Diego Air and Space Museum.

In 1963 Heuer introduced the Carrera chronograph designed by Jack Heuer- great-grandson of Edouard. The Carrera had a simple design with only the registers and applied markers on the dial. A three-register triple calendar version of the Carrera was introduced in 1968. Heuer was again in the news when it acquired “Leonidas” - 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 was reset to zero, it immediately begun running again to time the next segment or event. 

Headquartered in Switzerland, Tag Heuer's unique heritage is built on a disruptive mindset, an innovative approach and a cool and free-minded spirit to think ahead and establish records. Heuer's first automatic chronographs were Autavia, Carrera and Monaco. In the early Seventies Heuer expanded its line of automatic chronographs to include Daytona- Montreal- Silverstone- Calculator- Monza and Jarama. In 1975 Heuer introduced Chronosplit: a digital chronograph with dual LED and LCD displays. Later versions featured two LCD displays. Heuer also began using the Valjoux 7750 movement in its automatic chronographs- with the Kentucky and Pasadena models. And in the mid-Seventies it introduced a series of chronographs powered by Lemania 5100.

Interestingly "Tag Heuer" formed in 1985 when TAG -Techniques d'Avant Garde- manufacturers of high-tech items such as ceramic turbochargers for Formula One cars, and British businessman Ron Dennis, acquired Heuer. In 1999 TAG Heuer accepted a bid from LVMH LVMH Chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault said- as per CNN Money- that the deal with TAG "will result in the creation of a powerful base for further development in the sector." Ever since Tag Heuer's vocation has been to push back the boundaries and defy convention in order to invent high-precision masterful watches and chronographs. 

"Tag Heuer represents 160 years of innovation and expertise. The brand has a strong entrepreneurial spirit, a vision for avant-garde and disruption, as well as deep roots in speed and precision sports, motor racing in particular. With our iconic yet contemporary mechanical collections like the TAG Heuer Carrera, Monaco or Autavia, alongside bold new products like the Connected smartwatch, we can project the unique values and mindset of the brand into the future," Frédéric Arnault, CEO, Tag Heuer states on the brand's official website. 

Today Tag Heuer is focused on its ongoing digital transformation with new e-commerce platforms in development as well as on its holistic customer experience and physical boutique network with a new retail concept. And fueling its unwavering spirit of innovation is the TAG Heuer Institute, where some of the most impressive scientific minds in the world are working on the future of watchmaking, in fields such as solid physics, compliant mechanics and nanostructure materials.

Capturing TAG Heuer's campaign "Don’t Crack Under Pressure" are prominent partnerships and brand ambassadors that express the luxury brand's passion for high performance. These include Formula E World Championship- Tag Heuer Porsche Formula E team- Aston Martin Red Bull Racing Formula 1 Team- Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix and Grand Prix Historique- World Endurance Championships and Indianapolis 500.  Jean-Claude Biver- CEO of TAG Heuer and President of the LVMH Group Watch Division- stated: "I am delighted with the result of this new campaign… I can see TAG Heuer reconnecting not just with the millennial and younger generations but also with the brand's Avant-Garde spirit.. the spirit which pushes us to do things differently, to innovate, to take risks."

In 2020 LVMH Chairman and Chief Executive Bernard Arnault's son was named chief executive of Tag Heuer. Frédéric Arnault, who joined the Swiss luxury watch brand in 2017 as the strategy and digital director, took charge on July 1. 

As for Tag Heuer Ambassadors, they all share the ability to stand up to pressure, constantly pushing their limits, including legends Steve McQueen and Ayrton Senna, Chris Hemsworth and Patrick Dempsey, ATP next-generation tennis players Alex de Minaur, Frances Tiafoe, Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger Aliassime, and big wave surfer Kai Lenny.

Tag Heuer's unique heritage is envisioned and built on a disruptive mindset, an innovative approach and a free-minded spirit to think ahead and establish records in the history of watchmaking.  Excellence, precision and elegance are the exacting standards and impassioned commitments of the LVMH-owned Swiss watchmaking company.

LVMH-owned Tag Heuer creates the most precision, technologically-advanced watches in the history of watchmaking.