FIRST IMPRESSIONS: TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer 02T Nanograph Tourbillon

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When Mr Jean Claude Biver took over at the helm of TAG Heuer, one of the things he did was refocus the brand in the £1000-£15,000 (entry level luxury) price range and in the process curtailed the extravagances of the Haute Horlogerie department. This, unfortunately, brought an end to the launch of new innovative pieces like the Monaco V4 and the various Mikro- product ranges. To be fair, Mr Biver drastically reduced the entry price for the purchase of a Swiss-made tourbillon and thus brought high-end watchmaking to the masses (relatively speaking) and in the process turned TAG Heuer into the largest producer of tourbillons in Switzerland almost overnight. But despite that, for many fans of the brand the lack of new complicated pieces was something of a disappointment.

It would be wrong to presume though that there is a connection between the appointment of Stephane Bianchi and the announcement of the Nanograph. Clearly the Nanograph hasn't been created since last November and as I understand it Mr Biver is still very much in the picture, albeit taking a less 'hands-on' role because of ongoing health issues and inevitable entropy. Besides, while this piece represents a significant step forward for the brand (TAG Heuer becoming one of only a very few brands capable of producing their own hairsprings) it is perhaps not quite as revolutionary as pieces such as the Monaco V4 and the Mikropendulum. Nonetheless, the use of carbon nanotubes to manufacture a hairspring is a significant achievement and it's nice to see the brand pushing the envelope again, hopefully we will see more in this vein in the future.

So what's the benefit? Well...

1) The lightweight, low-density hairspring is virtually unaffected by gravity and shock. In their lab, TAG Heuer tested the watches with a 5,000g/1m fall onto a hard surface, unlike metal hairsprings (which bent) and silicon hairsprings (which broke) the carbon-composite hairsprings remained intact.

2) The carbon-composite hairspring is produced with the collet already attached, usually this small component which is required to attach the hairspring to the balance wheel axis requires complicated assembly and opens the door to further inaccuracy.

3) The carbon-composite hairspring is completely antimagnetic, which eliminates the issue of inaccuracy that can result from the watch coming into contact with a magnetic source.

4) Perfect concentruc oscillations are made possible thanks to the carbon-composite hairspring's geometry and improve the precision of the watch.

5) Optimal thermal behaviour and aeroelasticity have been achieved by pairing the carbon-composite hairspring with an aluminium alloy balance wheel.

Impressive stuff!

Furthermore, in a nod to haute horlogerie pieces of the past like the Flying 1000, TAG has decorated the watch with a bright neon green colour and also used white gold inserts in the aluminium alloy balance wheel, not to mention the company has gone to town with the hexagon/honeycomb theme, even going as far as extending it to the rotor (which is visible through the sapphire display back). 

Personally, with the hexagon theme, the carbon bezel and lugs and the splashes of yellow I think the watch looks absolutely fantastic, and I'm sure I'm not the only person thinking to themselves 'why didn't the Aston Martin Carrera look like this?' Well, as I've said before, it's one thing to put acid colours on a quartz Formula 1 costing £1500 or so, but a little more risky to decorate a mass market £5,250 Carrera, and let's face it, if they had done that, then this $25,500 masterpiece wouldn't have nearly the visual impact it does, would it?

The piece also comes in this rather stylish box which incorporates a watch winder, and appears to have a wedge shaped 'foot' underneath the front edge to facilitate the opening of the front. Clearly this is way out of my budget, but it's definitely one to put on the 'lottery-win' dream list, right next to the Monaco V4, the Mikropendulum and my personal favourite, the Flying 1000. Actually I suppose you could look at this as an affordable alternative to the Flying 1000, giving you some of that watch's looks for a fraction of the price (albeit without that piece's super high-end complication).

I think it's important that TAG Heuer get back to making watches like this (and higher end still), sure most of us will never be able to afford them, but brands need that trickle down effect that products like this deliver, especially when they are trying to capture the mass market and satisfy the needs of the more 'educated' watch enthusiast.