TAG Heuer was originally founded in 1860 as Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer AG (Heuer Watchmaking Inc.) by Edouard Heuer in St-Imier, Switzerland. Building off a foundation of early innovations in dashboard instruments and chronographs, TAG Heuer is now synonymous with motorsports and enjoy a mainstream brand recognition matched by vanishingly few watch companies. In 1999 the Swiss company was acquired by LVMH, which also owns other brands including Bulgari, Daniel Roth, Gerald Genta, Hublot, and Zenith.
Early Days of F1 Timekeeping
Heuer has been present since the first season of Formula One where their hand wound mechanical chronographs were used, mostly by the drivers’ wives or girlfriends. This proved to vary in accuracy for obvious reasons, which Heuer eventually addressed in the 1970s by developing their ACIT (Automatic Car Identification Technology) system and later sold to Longines. This of course eventually evolved to modern transponder timing systems that are in use today, which now also provides live timing data.
Jack Heuer and Jo Siffert
The Heuer brand first officially merged with Formula One when Jack Heuer, Edouard’s great-grand son, struck a forward thinking deal with Swiss Formula One driver Jo Siffert. In exchange for running the Heuer logo on his car and driving suit, Siffert received a small retainer plus the rights to sell Heuer watches as an additional way to supplement his income. Siffert was often seen wearing the Heuer Autavia 1163T, appropriately nicknamed the ‘Siffert’ Autavia. Decades later, TAG Heuer and David Chalmers made it official with the Heuer Autavia Jo Siffert Collector’s Edition.
Project 99
Heuer partnered with Hamilton and Breitling in the late 1960’s in what was known as “Project 99” to develop an automatic chronograph, releasing not only automatic versions of the previous models but also the Monaco, named after the Monaco Grand Prix. Discontinued in the mid-1970s, the model was reissued in 1998 as the CS2110/1 “Heuer Re-Edition” with a run of 5,000 watches and sans the TAG logo. The Monaco made a full time return to the TAG Heuer lineup in 2003.
1970’s: Scuderia Ferrari, BRM, and Grand Prix Circuits
Heuer became the timekeeping partner of Scuderia Ferrari in 1972, and out of the gates came the budget-friendly Easy-Rider line. Priced considerably lower than their other models at the time, the Heuer branding is nowhere to be found on Easy-Rider models and were instead mainly sold under the Leonidas sub-brand or Sears. The closest thing to an exception were the chrome-plated Jacky Ickx Easy-Rider editions, which sported a dial featuring the Belgian driver’s name and printed signature which came in a Heuer-badged mini helmet. A Bullhead Jacky Ickx Easy-Rider chronograph was also released in 1972 though a similar agreement with Swiss watch company Sorna.
The partnership also produced quartz digital watches in the form of the Heuer Chronosplit Ferrari models. The 1970s proved to be successful for Heuer and Ferrari, as the F1 team enjoyed three championship seasons thanks to Niki Lauda in 1975 and 1977, and Jody Sheckter in 1979.
Heuer also sponsored the BRM team in the same decade. Several more models named after Grand Prix racetracks were also released, including the Heuer Silverstone in 1974 and the Heuer Jarama several years later. The Heuer Monza was launched in 1976 to celebrate Ferrari’s constructors and driver’s championships from the 1975 season. The line was re-released for a few years in the early 2000s before returning in 2011 and 2016 for its 35th and 40th anniversaries, as well as a surprise reappearance in 2023 with a skeleton dial.
TAG Heuer and McLaren
In 1985, Heuer was acquired by Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG Group) and officially became TAG Heuer on January 1, 1986. The aptly named Formula 1 line was the first to be released under the TAG Heuer banner. The TAG Group had already been a fixture in the Formula One paddock as well, having sponsored the Williams team in the early 1980’s before manufacturing Formula One turbochargers and becoming part owner of McLaren.
As TAG Heuer, the watch brand enjoyed more title-winning success right out of the gates with McLaren thanks to Alain Prost (who returned as an ambassador in 2011) and Ayrton Senna, and extended their remarkable win rate with their sponsorship of the Williams team in the 1990s with another four titles thanks to Prost, Nigel Mansell, and Damon Hill.
Official Timekeeper of Formula One and Ayrton Senna
TAG Heuer further strengthened their ties with Grand Prix racing by becoming the Official Timekeeper of Formula One in 1992, and served the role until 2003. Since 1994, there have been numerous special edition Ayrton Senna watches released in honor of the late legendary Brazilian driver. Only the first one, the TAG Heuer 6000 Senna Limited Edition, included Senna’s direct involvement due to his tragic passing at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Since then, Senna editions have appeared on Link, Carrera, and Formula 1 models and are likely to continue on into the future. TAG Heuer was acquired by LVMH in 1999, retaining its name.
The 2000s saw models such as the Micrograph Formula 1 and an ana-digi Kirium (ref. CL111A). Neither had outwardly visible Formula One branding beyond having “Official Timekeeper of the FIA F1 World Championship” engraved on the case backs.
McLaren Driver Editions
TAG Heuer’s longstanding relationship with McLaren continued until 2015, during which time saw the release of watches bearing the names of F1 greats like Mika Häkkinen, David Coulthard, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikonnen, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jenson Button, and Lewis Hamilton. Several Juan Manuel Fangio edition timepieces have also been released during this time frame as well.
Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen
Taking over from Casio in 2016, TAG Heuer became the official partner and timekeeper of the Red Bull Racing Formula One team. Due to a then-shaky engine partnership with Renault, the Red Bull team opted to also rebrand their power unit as “TAG Heuer”. The unique branding choice was a nice callback to the days when F1 cars ran TAG engines, and continued until the end of the 2018 season just before Red Bull made the switch to Honda power units.
TAG Heuer have released a number of Red Bull models since the beginning of their sponsorship, starting with the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Max Verstappen Youngest Grand Prix Winner Special Edition (no bonus points for guessing the model’s theme) that was only sold in the Netherlands. Red Bull editions have spanned beyond the Formula 1 line, with the Carrera line also sporting Red Bull Racing branding such as the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre Heuer 01 Skeleton Red Bull Racing Special Edition (ref. CAR2A1N.FT6100).
Bamford Watch Department
2017 also marked an official partnership between TAG heuer (along with LVMH stablemates Hublot and Zenith) and Bamford Watch Department’s George Bamford, former renegade Rolex customizer and founder of Bamford London.
The first official production watch was the TAG Heuer Monaco Bamford, unveiled at Baselworld 2018. The first Monaco Bamford is powered by the Caliber 11 automatic chronograph movement with a limited release of only 500 pieces, and stands out thanks to Bamford’s trademark black and aqua blue colors and its unique carbon case. A limited edition Bamford Heuer Monza with a royal blue and orange color scheme has also been released, with a run of only 25 pieces. Additional steel-cased non-limited Monaco Bamford models have also since been made available: A Monaco Bamford with a Heuer 02 movement, and a Monaco Heritage Bamford which also runs on the Caliber 11. Both are available for customization. An unnamed Monaco Bamford was posted on the Bamford Watch Department Instagram account in September of 2024.
LVMH: Global Partner of Fomula One
Parent company LVMH was announced as a global partner of Formula One on October 2, 2024. The 10-year agreement is expected to see TAG Heuer returning as the Official Timekeeper, taking the place of Rolex.
References
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