Concept watches- like concept cars- can take one of two forms: either an outlandish styling exercise to win a few headlines, or a genuine preview of where a brand is headed. The TAG Heuer Mikrogirder, announced last week in Geneva, is definitely the latter. In fact, perhaps the least interesting part of the Mikrogirder story is the headline number of 5/ 10,000ths of a second. It’s easy to be blase about such a stunning achievement, but if TAG Heuer had simply reached this milestone by developing a  faster evolution of …

Meet the TAG Heuer Mikrogirder 2000 Concept watch- a dual-assortment, ultra high-beat watch with a Chronograph beating at 7.2 million times every hour, meaning that the watch can time events to 5/ 10,000th of a second. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the new TAG Heuer Mikrogirder is not that TAG Heuer have put out a watch twice as fast as the Mirkotimer- it’s the fact that they’ve done it with a movement that- again- reinvents mechanical movements. The 2011 Mikrotimer had no balance wheel. The 2009 Pendulum had no …

TAG Heuer has taken the wraps off the 2012 Formula 1 Series ahead of its Pre-Basel launch event in Geneva. While the existing series ballooned into a dizzying array of models, the new series keeps things focused with three flavours- a Watch, a Chronograph and a Watch with an alarm function. Giving the series variety is the array of materials- including stainless steel, aluminium, ceramic and titanium-carbide- employed to give the different models their own look and feel.

Since its introduction back in 1986, the The Formula 1 has been TAG …

Next week is the first chance to see the 2012 TAG Heuer watches, with the company holding an event in Geneva from 16- 19 January. We already know that the 2012 Formula 1 Series will be unveiled in Geneva, but it wouldn’t be a launch event without a new concept watch from TAG Heuer.
TAG Hear have released the image below and are promising a “game-changing new regulator breaking all high-frequency records“.
There’s very little given away by this image, other than it looks like the watch is a development of …

The TAG Heuer Formula 1 has a special place in the brand’s history, being the first watch released following the acquisition of Heuer by Techniques d’Avant Garde (“TAG”) in 1985. While Heuer had spent the late 1970s and early 1980s desperately trying to make money from mechanical watches that were designed for a very different competitive environment, the Formula 1 was a watch of its time. It was the first analogue Heuer/ TAG Heuer series to be quartz-only and to this day there has never been an automatic model.
The inspiration …

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.
The Launches
2012 saw four key launches for TAG Heuer- …

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.

In addition to the annual catalogues showing the whole collection, there are also a series of model specific catalogs.

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 have helped …

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.

The model shown here is the 42mm Chronograph, which is laid out in …

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.

TAG 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 “Date” and “Day-Date” model is the larger date window and additional functionality implied by the name. As …

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 …

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.

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 call …

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. To recap, at the heart of the Carrera Mikrograph is TAG Heuer’s revolutionary Mikrograph movement, which in an integrated in-house Chronograph movement capable …