Congratulations to TAG Heuer for winning the 2010 La Petite Aiguille award (“the small hand” for watches retailing for less than CHF5,000) at the “Watch Oscars”- the prestigious Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.
The award was announced just hours ago. So, while the European watch media spend the evening celebrating, those of us who have just had breakfast in the Southern hemisphere can bring you the news of the win….even if Champagne sounds like a better way to mark the occasion than Cornflakes.
This is a great coup for TAG Heuer and yet another chapter in the Carrera 1887 story, the significance of which is less about the design of the watch and more about the movement and what it signifies in the evolution of TAG Heuer’s in-house movement manufacturing capabilities.
Calibre 11 has covered the full story of the Carrera 1887- from breaking the first photos of the Carrera back in March, to being one of the first to tell the full story around the controversial birth of the movement, almost exactly one year ago.
So, to mark the win, here is the full set of articles on the Carrera 1887- from brickbats to bouquets.
December 2009
The announcement of the Calibre 1887…which looks familiar…Jean- Christope Babin joins the discussion
March 2010
March 2010
An exclusive look at the background to the new movement and how its made
May 2010
TAG Heuer make some changes to the design of the Carrera
September 2010
Master watchmaker Peter Roberts reviews the Calibre 1887 movement
October 2010
More changes to the design of the Carrera
While it’s a great win for TAG Heuer, I can hear the frustration of readers in places like North America who are sick of looking at nice photos of the Carrera and want to actually go to a store and buy one. Its been a long gestation period for the Carrera, with delays blamed on the changes to the design- although I wonder whether the cautious ramp-up is also related to TAG Heuer making sure that the Calibre 1887 movement is 100% right before running at full capacity.
Either way, and as frustrating as the wait may be, these delays will be forgotten in a couple of years, by which time we’ll know the true success of the watch and its new movement. Awards from Geneva are a great reward for the work done so far, but the true success of the Carrera Calibre 1887 can only be judged after a watch has been “out in the wild” for a few years.