So, another year slips into the rear-view mirror, providing an excuse for lazy writers everywhere to crank out an annual “Best Of” list. If you expected any different from Calibre 11, then prepare to be disappointed, as we take a look back over the year that was for TAG Heuer.  We posted more than 50 stories this year on watches ranging from under $1000 to over $70,000, looking at vintage watches, new watches, and even one that never made it into production.
Pin ItThe Launches
2012 saw four key launches for TAG …

Over the last couple of weeks you may have noticed a new section added to Calibre 11- an archive of TAG Heuer catalogues stretching from the first days of TAG Heuer in 1985 through to the modern series.
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In addition to the annual catalogues showing the whole collection, there are also a series of model specific catalogs.
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At the moment, there are more than 40 catalogues uploaded, with more to come over the next few weeks.
The full list of Catalogues and Price Lists can be found here.
Thanks to those who …

A few weeks ahead of its official launch, we can bring you today the first preview photos of the 2012 TAG Heuer Formula 1 Series. The new model replaces the current F1 series which has been a key part of the TAG Heuer range since it was relaunched in 2004.
As you can see below, the The 2012 model is an evolution of the current series, but with a more mature, elegant design and featuring upgraded finishing and details.
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The model shown here is the 42mm Chronograph, which is laid out …

It’s been called the quartz crisis and the quartz revolution. Not without good reason either, it saw a good deal of market share in world watch-making migrate from Switzerland towards the east and a multitude of mergers, acquisitions and even long-standing companies disappearing forever. Some would later re-emerge in slightly different guises; others have remained lost to this day. Some of those mergers created very large groups such as what was to become ASUAG/Swatch, which later would cause some monopoly issues for the rest of the watch-making companies in Switzerland. …

Since its release back in 2008, the Carrera Day-Date Calibre 16 has become one of the most popular watches in the TAG Heuer range: bigger, bolder and more intricately designed than most of the Carrera models, the Day-Date model is the Alpha Male of the Carrera pack.
Pin ItTAG Heuer offer the combination Day-Date feature on several Calibre 16 watches, (The Aquaracer and- in the past- the Link) but typically the only change between the two versions is the larger date window and additional functionality implied by the name. As someone …

A few weeks ago, Mark Moss wrote a couple of great stories that chronicled Heuer and TAG Heuer‘s use of precious metals over the years. I’ve always thought of Heuer and TAG Heuer as makers of sports chronographs, so my taste in case materials doesn’t usually extend far beyond stainless steel…although I will gladly accept a Rose Gold Monaco V4 if pushed!
Still, there is no getting around the fact that some like their watches with a little more bling, and so if a Gold case is not enough, there is …

Scales. Indispensable to the obsessive cook, but also something that has clinched the sale of a few watches over the years too.
Some scales are more or less essential, like the days marked around the outside of the dial on a perpetual calendar:
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Others add additional functionality to the watch and it is these we will be looking at in this article. It’s interesting to see how trends in these sort of scales come and go – some are rarely seen in modern watches whereas others are just as popular as they …

Given that one of the most popular 2010 TAG Heuer releases was the Aquaracer 500m Full Black watch, it comes as no surprise that a year later we now have an Aquaracer 500m Chronograph with the Full Black treatment.
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The Full Black formula is pretty straight forward- take the Aquaracer 500m 3-hand watch, swap the stainless steel case for a lightweight titanium case (coated in titanium-carbide) and add bright Green/ Yellow (Lime?) highlights. Even the crystal caseback is “smoked” to give the watch the full stealth treatment- if you can …

Following the success of the Carrera Mikrograph unveiled in Geneva earlier this year, TAG Heuer has released a second version of the watch- also a Limited Edition. but in Anthracite rather than Brown. There was no initial plan for a second Mikrograph- it was simply a case of the demand for the watch significantly outstripping the supply of the first version, which was limited to 150 watches.
Pin ItTo recap, at the heart of the watch is TAG Heuer’s revolutionary Mikrograph movement, which in an integrated in-house Chronograph movement capable of …

Unless you follow the business pages closely, you may have missed the result of a court case last month in the Federal Administrative Court in Berne. Calibre 11 doesn’t normally devote a lot of time to court cases, but this one is different as it confirms changes to the Swiss watchmaking industry that will impact all players- and in particular, volume producers such as TAG Heuer.
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The Court upheld a decision made by the Swiss Competition Commission (known as Comco) to allow Swatch Group to begin reducing supply of its …

As the year starts to wind down, there are still a few new models to come from TAG Heuer, including this pair of McQueen Monaco’s. Just as earlier this year, TAG announced Silver and Orange Monaco twins (one in the classic Monaco case and the other a Monaco 24), this time we have two Blue editions named after the man who has become the face of the TAG Heuer Monaco- Steve McQueen.
Pin ItThese watches are interesting not just because of their designs, but also because they are the first of …

Earlier this week I spoke with TAG Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin about TH’s movement strategy- and in particular, what was going on with two of their most innovative movements- the Pendulum and the Mikrotimer.
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The Pendulum was unveiled at Basel in March 2010, with the Mikrotimer following exactly a year later. Along with the V4 and the Mikrograph, the four movements are developed and hand-built by the haute horlogerie team at TAG Heuer.
Coming up with cool concepts is one thing, but TAG Heuer have a good record at turning these …