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.

The Court upheld a decision made by the Swiss Competition Commission (known as Comco) to allow Swatch Group to begin reducing supply of its finished …

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 These 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.

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 ideas …

It always seems as though our friends in Japan get all the cool stuff- the latest sneakers, talking robots, crazy gadgets and Limited edition watches.
TAG Heuer typically release a number of watches each year that are only sold in Japan- such as a series of Carreras to commemorate the great driving roads of the world, and an Aquaracer series to mark the world’s best diving spots.
Typically these Japan-only LE series are small variations on standard models, such as a unique dial or color combination.
This year, TAG Heuer Japan has released …

A few months ago Calibre 11 bought you the first photos of the TAG Heuer Monaco Mikrograph watch,  a one-off special edition Monaco made for the Only Watch Auction.  As we’re now only days away from the Auction itself, this could be one of the last chances to see this unique Monaco before it lands in the collection of a lucky bidder.
As the name suggests, the watch uses TAG Heuer’s in-house Mikrograph 1/100th movement in a special Monaco case and bespoke dial. So having shown you the official photos before, …

One question that often gets asked on the watch forums is why a particular watch that someone has seen at a dealer isn’t featured on the main TAG Heuer website or in the printed catalogue.
Part of the reason is that the way that watches are sold has changed. It used to be that all of a brands’ new models were shown to buyers at the Basel exhibition in March of each year and then delivered across the year- so it was easy to catalogue that years’ watches.
Now, most brands want …

TAG Heuer has marked the launch of the 2011 Link series in South East Asia with a competition encouraging creative types to put together a 30-60 second video or animation about the new Link.
Each person was given only three photos of the watch and from that had to create something original and consistent with the design and positioning of the new Link series.
More than 40 submissions were received, with the judges working down to a final seven, which will be unveiled over the coming days on the South East Asia …

With the 2011 Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix only a few weeks away, TAG Heuer have shown their latest Limited Edition watches to mark the event.
Beginning with the first Singapore GP back in 2008, each year has seen a different model used as the basis for the Singapore Grand Prix Edition- and this year it’s a Carrera Heritage.
Once again the Singapore Edition wears a combination of black and green on both the dial and leather strap, and also like last year there is a 2011 Lady’s Singapore Edition.
Lets take a …

It’s hard to imagine today’s TAG Heuer range without the Carrera, the model that was at the heart of the range for more than twenty years, but disappeared in 1985.
Making its comeback in 1996- initially as a Limited Edition- the Carrera is now available in more than 40 different models, with case sizes ranging from 39-43mm and an array of quartz and automatic movements.
While this breadth means there is no shortage of choice, it also means that it’s a ongoing challenge to give each of the models its own distinct …

One of the best pieces of advice that I can give to anyone wanting to buy a watch is this: go and try it on. That may seem obvious to most, but given that you can now research a watch and have it delivered to your front door without leaving the couch, there is an increasing temptation to buy a watch based on photos alone- most of which are taken in a studio with fancy lighting and heavy editing.
Likewise, you can’t review or learn about a watch from official photos …

Once the vintage watch-collecting bug bites, it can bite hard. One minute you’re perfectly happy using your mobile phone to tell the time, and the next you’re scouring the internet and your great-uncles’ spare room to check if he bought a watch 30 years ago, but forgot to take it out of the box and actually wear it.
Richard Crosthwaite is one man who has been bitten by a very specific bug- Rich is one of the world’s leading collector of vintage Heuer Monaco watches, and over only a couple of …

In the late 1990s TAG Heuer began to develop a radically new model range that was to complement the Formula 1 series at the lower-end of the market. That watch was called the Edge.
But despite a small production run, the Edge never made it to market and was cancelled by management in 1999. Some of the unused cases found their way onto the market where they were sold as “TAG Heuer prototypes”.
There has been a lot of confusion over the years about these watches- what the original looked like and …