Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

TAG Heuer

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History

Founded

1860

Established

La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland

The history of TAG Heuer

1860, Edouard Heuer, just 20 years old, opened a watchmaking workshop in Saint-Imier in the Swiss Jura under the name "Edouard Heuer, Fabrique d'Horlogerie." The company underwent several name changes before becoming TAG Heuer in 1985. From the oscillating pinion in 1887 to the Link Calibre S in 2007, TAG Heuer has left its mark on the history of Swiss watchmaking. Over 145 years of innovation and expertise have made TAG Heuer one of the ultimate references in avant-garde sports watches.

1887 Heuer was granted a patent for the oscillating pinion.

1911 Launch of Time of Trip, the first dashboard chronograph for cars as well as aircraft.

1916 Charles-Auguste Heuer invented the Mikrograph and Microsplit (with split-seconds), the first stopwatches with 1/100th of a second accuracy. These were followed by the Semikrograph and Semicrosplit, accurate to 1/50th of a second.

1920 Heuer's split-seconds pocket chronographs were chosen as official timekeeping instruments for the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920, Paris in 1924 and Amsterdam in 1928.

1933 Launch of the Autavia, the first stopwatch for dashboards and aircraft instrument panels. It was often used in combination with the Hervue, a dashboard watch with an 8-day power reserve.

1949 Launch of the Mareographe, the first wrist-chronograph with a tide indication and chronograph functions for sailing regattas.

1962 On February 20th, the astronaut John Glenn orbited the Earth three times aboard the Mercury mission Friendship 7 spacecraft. He wore a Heuer sports stopwatch, making Heuer the first Swiss watch brand in space.

1964 Launch of the Carrera chronograph in honour of the famous 1950s Carrera Panamericana car rally.

1966 Heuer was granted a patent for the Microtimer, the first miniaturised electronic timekeeping instrument with 1/1,000th of a second accuracy.

1969 Launch of the Chronomatic Calibre 11, the first automatic chronograph movement with micro-rotor, and the legendary Monaco.

1972 Launch of the Microsplit 800, the first ever pocket quartz sports counter with 1/10th of a second accuracy.

1975 Launch of the Chronosplit, the world's first quartz wrist-chronograph with LCD/LED display and accurate to 1/10th of a second.

1987 Launch of the Sport/Elegance, an elegant and practical sports watch.

2003 Unveiling of the Microtimer, a timekeeping instrument worn on the wrist and accurate to 1/1,000th of a second.

2004 Unveiling of the Monaco V4 Concept Chronograph at Baselworld. The Monaco 69 won the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève in the Best Design category.

2005 Unveiling of the Calibre 360 Concept Chronograph, the first mechanical wrist chronograph, accurate to 1/100th of a second. Launch of the Professional Golf Watch, developed with Tiger Woods.

2006 Unveiling at Baselworld of the Monaco Calibre 360 LS Concept Chronograph. Launched as a limited edition, the rose gold Carrera Calibre 360 won the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève in the Sports Watch category.

2007 Launch of the Calibre S whose quartz-mechanical movement is accurate to 1/10th of a second, and which displays the time and other indications with logic and elegance. This technology uses no fewer than 230 parts and five high-performance bi-directional motors. The Aquaracer Calibre S Regatta won a place on Popular Science's "Best of What's New" list of the 100 most important technological revolutions of the next 20 years.
Launch of the Grand Carrera which is fitted with the Calibre RS, the first mechanical movement with rotating systems.

2008 TAG Heuer opened its new exhibition space, the TAG Heuer 360 museum, an avant-garde gallery in which nearly 150-year watchmaking saga unfolds, devoted to the precise measurement of infinitely small increments of time.
Unveiling at Baselworld of the Grand Carrera Calibre 36 RS Caliper Concept Chronograph, the only automatic chronograph able to measure and display 1/10th of a second increments.

2009 TAG Heuer celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Monaco and launches the new «Aquaracer 500M» and the «Monaco LS», inspired by the «Monaco Calibre 360 Concept Watch».
Leonardo DiCaprio becomes a TAG Heuer ambassador.

2010 To celebrate its 150 years of Swiss watchmaking craftsmanship, high-performance and excellence, TAG Heuer launches the Calibre 1887 Automatic ChronographTAG Heuer introduces a new concept watch at Baselworld with a revolutionary mechanical movement without spiral: the «TAG Heuer pendulum».
TAG Heuer announces its partnership with Audi for Le Mans 24 Hours.
Jenson Button, 2009 F1 World Champion, becomes TAG Heuer ambassador and joins Lewis Hamilton at McLaren Mercedes.

TAG Heuer Museum