With Baselworld now only six weeks away, perhaps it is time to look into the crystal ball and put together some predictions on what TAG Heuer might be showing us at Basel. Baselworld is the annual major trade show for watches and jewelery and is held every March in Basel, Switzerland.

While TAG Heuer release new models throughout the year, the major launches are always at Baselworld…and given that this year is TAG Heuer’s 150th anniversary, its not unreasonable to expect that we should be seeing some special watches from TAG Heuer this year.

TAG Heuer and the McLaren F1 team have had a long association, not just through common ownership (TAG formerly owning both TAG Heuer and 50% of what was called McLaren International; Ron Dennis of McLaren being a shareholder in TAG Heuer), but also through TAG Heuer’s sponsorship of the McLaren F1 team.

In the mid-late 1990s McLaren was undergoing a period of change- it had split from long-time engine partner Honda in 1993 and lost the Marlboro sponsorship deal at the end of 1996. So 1997 was a new chapter for …

One of the more interesting chapters of Heuers history is its relationship with Lemania. In 1983 the majority of the automatic movements offered by Heuer were powered by Lemania. Yet by 1986, almost all of these Lemania watches are gone.

So how can this all be explained? Why did Heuer and Lemania form such a close relationship? Why did it all come to an end so abruptly? And why do these Heuer watches look the same as designs offered by other companies?
In this two-part story, each of these questions will be examined as the Heuer and Lemania relationship is explored. Part One will focus on the corporate relationship between the two companies.

**************************************
Looking for the TAG Heuer Mikrotimer Flying 1000? Click here
**************************************
It can be said that there are three types of watch collectors- the “traders”, the “flippers” and the “accumulators”. Accumulators will never sell a watch, even if it only gets worn once every leap-year. A flipper will buy today with the aim of wearing for a week, keeping the sticker on the back and then selling on at a profit. The trader, which describes how I collect watches, sits somewhere in the middle.
I never buy a watch with the sole intention …

TAG Heuer and Zenith corporate functions have been merged under a new holding company, LVMH Swiss Manufactures SA. At the moment the changes are largely administrative, but it will be interesting to see whether the independence of the brands is compromised over time.

Over the last few weeks TAG Heuer has released a Monaco V4 iPhone application- the first TAG Heuer mobile application, or app- and offers some great video and photos of the new V4 Monaco. Far from being just a novelty download, the use of a dedicated mobile app is perhaps the most exciting new marketing channel for watch companies since the development of the internet itself.

Photos of the 1990 TAG Heuer F1 Chronograph- The TAG Heuer F1 series was a huge seller in the 1980s- 90s and today represent outstanding value for money

Normally when I take photographs of watches I spend most of the time on the head-on shots of the dial- after all, this is the view that you have when you look at your watch. This angle offers the best view of the hands, the sub-dials and any pattern on the dial (oh, and you can also tell the time).

However today I want to focus on the Heuer Montreal- and ignore its dial and hands and instead focus on its amazing case finishing