TAG Heuer Movement Strategy

Posted by: David Chalmers | 22 March 2012 | 9 Comments

Haute Horlogerie

TAG Heuer will continue to manufacture its haute horlogerie movements at La Chaux-de-Fonds. This covers the Monaco V4, Mikrograph, Mikrotimer and new for 2012 the Mikrotourbillon. These movements and watches are basically hand-made at TAG Heuer HQ in small numbers, and this will continue in 2012.

Other Movements- Sellita

Regular readers will know that Swatch Group has started to put the squeeze on competitors such as TAG Heuer for finished movements as well as key components, with the movement most impacted in 2012 being the Calibre 16 (ETA 7750), which is found in the Carrera, Link and Aquaracer.

For the first time in 2012 TAG Heuer will begin to use the Sellita SW-500 as the Calibre 16 to supplement the ETA 7750. As we understand it, there will be no differentiating feature on the watch to indicate which movement is being used (recall that the two movements are almost interchangeable).

When we met with CEO Jean-Christophe Babin in January, he mentioned that the Sellita SW-500 has recently been upgraded and had now been homologated for use by TAG Heuer.

Conclusion

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None of these changes will be a surprise to regular readers of Calibre 11, and indeed the news of a new in-house movement plus the move to bring more components in-house is great news for TAG Heuer. The drift away from Swatch Group continues to grow momentum, and while Swatch Group’s desire to control finished movements is understandable, it does surprise that it has been allowed by the Swiss regulators to cut back on the supply of components for which it has a virtual-monopoly. It is also not a surprise that one of the first contracts terminated by Swatch Group is that of its major competitor.

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Of course, these changes will impact the smaller brands much more than TAG Heuer, which is able to use its financial strength to build new in-house capabilities. It’s an exciting time to see the innovation and progress that the brand is making on its mechanical movements, and there is little doubt that the pace of innovation shows that TAG is more than capable of building a new range of movements that are superior to those supplied by ETA.

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Photos

1887 Movement & Mikrograph: Abel Court

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Home » Calibre 1887, Mikro Family, Sellita

78109 CommentsTAG+Heuer+Movement+Strategy2012-03-21+13%3A30%3A27David+Chalmers »

AM said:
Do you think the original calibre 1887 will become a collectors watch now with all these changes?

# 22 March 2012 at 10:42

philip said:
All good news.I know to design and build an in house movement will hit us in the pocket (nothing new there) but I get fed up with so many watches with the same movements.

# 22 March 2012 at 11:35

Babin said:
You're right. Oddly the assortment – because of Nivarox defacto monopoly – is at the same time one of the most taboo and one of the most common and standardized watch component in Switzerland with very similar assortments from the same supplier equipping most Swiss Brands regardless of their price positioning, history or image. Like if a Ferrari were using the same pistons as a Dacia Logan (to the honour of the Dacia Logan). New players like Atokalpa or Seiko Instruments will create competition, progress, innovation and variety on a component which insofar has been quite "quiet" except for the silicium. Or TAG Heuer Concepts like the Pendulum or the Mikrogirder 10000 proposing new ground breaking ways of regulating especially in medium-high and high frequencies.

# 22 March 2012 at 14:42

Jordan said:
Do you know when the change from the ETA 7750 to the Sellita 500 will take place? I am looking at buying a new carrera heritage in the next few months and want to know if it has the eta or sellita movement. Also are the movements comparable in terms of accuracy?

# 22 March 2012 at 15:40

DC (author) said:
Thanks for stopping by Jean-Christophe.

What can you tell us about the new movement? What will the dial lay-out be?

David

# 23 March 2012 at 03:13

Mark said:
That's the key question for me David. The Vj7750 layout is so ubiquitous now that I don't feel creating another movement that follows that configuration would be the right move, especially not given the competition can offer the more classic 3-6-9 layout.

What I think would be ideal would be a base movement that is configurable for 2 or 3 registers in 3-9 or 3-6-9 configurations. And modular enough that complications such as a triple calendar could be added – there is a rich history of triple calendar chronographs with Heuer, it would be great to see another in the range, combining sport and dress watch themes.

# 23 March 2012 at 03:42

Himawan said:
This is not quite surprising, more to a confirmation of a good news. I think this is all what we expect from TAG-Heuer moving forward with the strategy of insourcing. Keep posting..

# 23 March 2012 at 06:55

DC (author) said:
Not sure Mark- looks like no more info for now. If it is based on the Mikro platform (and that has not been confirmed), then I guess it will have a tri-compax layout, with registers at 3, 6 and 9 o'clock and with the potential for a power reserve for the Chrono.

A few points from a post made elsewhere by JCB:

- New Chrono will be similarly priced as C. 1887- above that is Calibre 36 and above that Mikrograph

- New Chrono has "different dial related architecture, thickness and modularity"

Lets hope its a little thinner than the Cal. 1887

dc

# 25 March 2012 at 04:22

Kback said:
The 1887 Calibre is a step in the right direction. I believe the Insource-Strategy prevents TAG Heuer from relying to much on the Swatch Company. Over 3/4 of all Swiss Watch Companies buy Embouches/Hairsprings and so on from Swatch and do not diversify themself properly in terms of suppliers. This is a serious cluster risk. I know, insourcing is not a very cheap solution, but sustainable.

Kback

# 5 April 2012 at 07:16

TAG Heuer mehanizmi - juče, danas i sutra said:
[...] prisiljavanja proizvođača da potraže svoju nezavisnost. Tekst je obrađen sa sledećih izvora: TAG Heuer Movement Strategy- 2012 Update | TAG Heuer Watch Reviews TAG Heuer Movements: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow | TAG Heuer Watch [...]

# 23 August 2012 at 02:26