CAR2B83.FC6339
TAG Heuer Boutique / Oxford Street, 5th January 2019
In all honesty I never thought I'd get closer to a TAG Heuer Mikropendulum than peering at it through the glass in the TAG Museum. That in itself was a tremendous privilege, but when the opportunity to actually handle this £33,000 masterpiece presented itself, well I wasn't going to pass it up. As I said when I reviewed the Roger Dubuis Excalibur Tourbillon, I don't make a habit of trying on watches that I can't afford to buy, but in this instance I felt a little more comfortable since I had already struck up a rapport with Evan in the Oxford St boutique and he was kind enough to spend the time to show me the piece without casting aspersions on my ability to purchase!
Despite the fact that I'll probably never be able to afford a V4 Tourbillon or (whisper it) a Mikrotimer Flying 1000 (if you can even buy those?) I've always loved the idea that they exist. While I can understand Mr Biver's desire to focus the brand on the defined 'entry-level' luxury market that makes up the vast majority of their sales, I do think it's a shame that they've turned away from the challenge of creating Haute Horlogerie pieces* (and seemingly shifted that responsibility to the Zenith arm of LVMH). But still, at least we can enjoy the watches that are already out there, and I certainly enjoyed this one for the brief time I had it on my wrist.
*Maybe not, since in the last few days TAG Heuer have released the Carrera Nanograph!
The Mikropendulum features a 45mm brushed titanium case, and while it is quite large it doesn't feel particularly ungainly on the wrist. Truth be told I assumed it was a 43mm and only realised otherwise when I just fact checked myself while writing this post. In the wrist shot below the crown looks like it sticks out quite a lot but it didn't bother me at all, admittedly I only wore the watch for a brief period, but I doubt anyone would wear this for any extended period of time and certainly not to do anything particularly active, so I can't see it being a major issue. It's probably no different than a modern 'modular' Carrera crown to be honest (and on closer inspection it actually looks like the crown might have been pulled out when the pictures were taken anyway).
So how does it work? Well the short answer is 'the chronograph is regulated by magnets'... the long answer is: In 2010 TAG Heuer created the 'Pendulum' concept watch (you may have come across various terrible fakes based on this on eBay) which was the first movement to be regulated by magnets instead of a traditional hairspring. However, TAG encountered problems with the concept because variations in temperature affected the magnets and consequently the watches' accuracy.
Undeterred, TAG Heuer continued to work on the problem for a further three years, testing different materials and geometries resulting in a magnet-driven spiral that moves the balance wheel at a low amplitude and a high frequency thus ensuring stability and accuracy. Like all Mikro creations it is a dual chain platform with a balance wheel system for the watch (operating at 4Hz and with a 42 hour power reserve), and a magnetic pendulum system for the chronograph (50Hz with a 90 minute power reserve). The crown winds the chronograph (and there is a power reserve display on the dial at the 12 position), while the movement itself is powered by a classic COSC certified oscilating weight.
So presumably then, since the crown only powers the chronograph, you have to do the 'Seiko-shuffle' to wind the main movement, and it still doesn't explain how they've managed to put magnets into a watch without it adversely affecting the rest of the movement. Maybe it's a trade secret?
In total there are 371 components in the Mikropendulum.
For further reading on the Mikropendulum, please visit the Calibre 11 article below:
https://www.calibre11.com/tag-heuer-carrera-mikropendulum/
