FEATURE: A Brief History of TAG Heuer

The TAG Heuer Museum at La Chaux de Fonds

When Heuer was bought by 'Techniques d'Avant Garde' in 1985 it made a momentous decision which would shape the future perception of the brand in more ways than they could possibly have imagined; Heuer became TAG Heuer. This single decision was possibly the worst thing they could have ever done as it provided an easy stick to beat the company with. I mean, how many times do we hear 'I love Heuer, but I hate TAG Heuer' as if they were two completely separate companies?

To a semi-interested bystander the story, or perhaps myth, goes that good old 'Heuer' made nothing but wonderful mechanical watches that everyone loved and then big bad 'TAG' came along and ruined everything by chucking out all the wonderful mechanical watches and replaced them with a slew of cheap and nasty quartz pieces instead. 

Of course that is absolute nonsense but it's a convenient story that the brand does nothing to dispel, and in fact propagates by omission (the bit about Heuer only making high end mechanical watches I mean, not the rest of it).

The 1985 Heuer catalogue (the last one before TAG bought the company) displays the following model ranges: 1000 Series, 2000 Series, 3000 Series, Airline, Titanium, Super Professional and the Golden Hours, hardly a glittering array of collectibles but then if Heuer had been on the top of their game they wouldn't have needed rescuing, would they?

Some people might wonder where the Carrera and Monaco are, believing that they have been a constant since their inception, but the truth is that both were out of production for a significant number of years. That wasn't TAG's doing though, Heuer discontinued both models way before TAG took over the company and with good reason. In the late 70s and early 80s fashion and style was all about the 'future', no one was interested in what was fashionable ten years ago, never mind 50 years ago!

Of course this was the same for pretty much everyone, I mean we've all heard the story about how Zenith discontinued the El Primero movement and how if it wasn't for one disobedient worker hiding rather than destroying the tools and moulds necessary to make it... 

Ah. You know, I've never quite bought that story, I mean, sure it would be helpful to have those things, but are you seriously telling me that they couldn't have taken an El Primero apart and reverse engineered it? It sounds like typical watch company bullshit to me, but I digress...

So TAG inherited a pretty mixed bag of watches and to start with they did what most companies would do in that situation, they rode it out until the stock was gone and the parts in hand were used up. So you find pretty much all the watches from that 1985 catalogue existing into the 'TAG' era, often with TAG Heuer branded dials but with Heuer stamped crowns and clasps.

Then in 1986, taking their lead from the enormously successful 'Swatch' watch, TAG Heuer decided to try something completely different and launched the original Formula 1 range using a colourful, resin coated steel case and strap. This was a big success and still to this day there is huge enthusiasm for the original Formula 1 range. Indeed I myself own 6 of these watches, despite them being just 34mm in diameter, and many other people collect them - in fact it seems rather unusual to find someone who only owns one piece! They are addictive and fun to wear.

The original Formula 1 range actually consisted of a mixture of resin/steel and steel cases and before long TAG Heuer started to introduce steel bracelets (only with plain steel cases) and take the range slowly upmarket. In the meantime they gradually phased out the other models (except the 2000, which survived and eventually morphed into the Aquaracer we know today). Along the way they introduced the 1500, 4000 and 6000 Series watches and perhaps the quintessential 90s TAG Heuer the 'S/EL'.

This line up continued largely unchanged for some time, until in 1996 TAG Heuer decided it was time to bring back the Carrera. At first it was a footnote, almost an afterthought, the Carrera was not front and centre of the brand's marketing strategy, it was the last page in the catalogue, something for those oddballs who wanted something 'retro'. If only they knew...

The following year TAG Heuer added the first Monaco re-edition to the catalogue and thus we see the beginnings of the brand's confused double identity. No longer solely a focused, forward looking watch brand, now TAG Heuer has to struggle with its unfortunate name change and the beginnings of its splintered customer base.

By 1999 the 1500 and 4000 Series were gone, replaced by the ultra-modern 'Kirium', the 'S/EL' was clinging on but it was clear that its days were numbered and by 2000 it had been reborn as the 'Link'. Now owned by LVMH the brand was definitely moving itself upmarket and for the first time introduced an entire product range aimed solely and specifically at ladies; the Alter Ego.

By 2003 TAG Heuer had re-introduced the Monza, Targa Florio and Autavia lines, and at the same time released solid gold versions of watches such as the 2000 and Alter Ego, indeed even the Monza got the solid gold treatment with the Calibre 17 powered CR514A. The Autavia floundered and soon disappeared along with the Targa Florio and the Alter Ego, and by 2005 TAG Heuer had started to push itself in a more 'techy' direction.

The company had also reintroduced the 'affordable' Formula 1 product range having discontinued it while trying to push the brand upmarket at the turn of the century. Soon it would confuse the range by adding mechanical movements, something that reached its zenith in 2020 with the Heuer 02 powered Fragment limited edition (don't call it a Formula 1 if you know what's good for you, it's an 'Autavia' and don't you forget it!).

To bring the Monaco bang up to date they strapped a manual wind model back to back with a Microtimer and created the fabulous, but bulky 'Monaco 69'. At the same time the 2000 Series became the Aquracer and the company also created the perfect golfing watch, suitably called 'Golf'. I mean, it does what it says on the tin...

By now the Carrera was no longer restricted to the back page of the catalogue and it was no longer a purely 'retro' model range, TAG Heuer had evolved it and expanded it, something they were less keen to do with the Monaco. Indeed, the unisex/ladies Monacos and the Monaco 69 aside, the Monaco remained a pretty retro proposition with just two dial colours available; blue or black.

2008 saw the introduction of both the SLR and Grand Carrera model ranges, while the SLR was a compact selection of slightly odd looking watches, the Grand Carrera was a huge investment with 26 distinct references available at launch with a further 16 or so available added later in the same year - something which is hard to imagine today. 

The following year saw TAG Heuer launch the first Calibre 11 powered Monaco, the first since the 1970s to feature a left handed crown. This was also the first Monaco to feature the 'Heuer' branding since the turn of the century when TAG Heuer decided to rebrand all it's 'heritage' pieces TAG Heuer instead of just 'Heuer' as they had been when they came out initially. At the same time TAG Heuer finally decided to also push the Monaco in a more modern direction with the launch of the El Primero powered 'Monaco 24' and Calibre 12 engined Monaco LS and boutique edition pieces.

When you look at the catalogues of this era it's clear that TAG Heuer is pushing in lots of different directions and working hard to be considered a luxury brand, something seen in it's choice of its A-list ambassadors (Leonardo DiCaprio, Maria Sharapova and Cameron Diaz) and the Haute Horlogerie pieces the brand was now offering. The range is now quite static until the arrival of Jean Claude Biver, who reinvents the brand and turns things on their head.

Mr Biver is a legendary figure in the watch industry and someone with a golden touch. Despite this, purists balk at his ideas and decry his skeleton Carrera and smartwatch revolutions. Unfortunately for them, the watches are a great success and much like the Porsche Cayenne are ultimately judged by their sales figures. Mr Biver goes on to launch the most affordable Swiss-made tourbillon before moving on to a different position in the LVMH group.

TAG Heuer is once again a success story, with the Connected in particular bringing in huge numbers of sales. The industry as a whole though is going through a difficult phase, 'retro' has been en vogue for some time now and it's hard to see a way for the industry to remove itself from the corner it has painted itself into. Prudently, perhaps, TAG Heuer has managed to keep a foot in both modern and retro camps, but by refusing to launch new product lines and instead expanding and diluting existing ones (the Carrera name at this point means almost anything and therefore nothing) has alienated some more long-standing, conservative customers.

2018 sees the launch of a collaboration with George Bamford's 'Bamford Watch Department' a company who offer bespoke designs and, for the first time a forged carbon Monaco. Bamford follow this up in 2020 with their unique take on the Aquaracer, with a titanium case and bracelet and a 'radar' inspired dial. 

2020 is the company's 160th anniversary and to celebrate TAG Heuer release first the silver dial Carrera and then the 'Montreal' inspired Carrera limited editions. Both are considered a great success, with the silver dial version in particular making seemingly everyone's 'best watch of the year' shortlist.

Now under the guidance of Frederic Arnault, where does TAG Heuer go in 2021? 

Rumors abound of a 'new' Aquaracer, a 'Porsche' Carrera and a heritage dive watch, and you can be sure of more limited editions... I hope you will join me as we discover the new lines together and hopefully at some point it will be easier for us all to go back to the watch stores and get up close with whatever 2021 has to offer.