Brand History: Tag Heuer

Well, the Heuer bit is at least, and if there is a little white lie in the claim that this is a joint anniversary, there is nothing duplicitous about the long-standing focus on precision timepieces and the cutting edge technology required to develop them.

Founded by Edouard Heuer in 1860 in St. Imler, Switzerland, Heuer posted a string of firsts over its early decades, patenting the oscillating pinion in 1887 and the first dashboard chronograph in 1911, and introducing the first stopwatch accurate to 1/100th of a second in faraway 1916.

Sports where timing mattered were also a constant almost from the beginning: Heuer was the official watch supplier to three summer Olympics in the 1920s and began a long involvement with skiing and bobsled around the same time.

But it was auto racing that emerged as its one true love, and with which it is most closely identified. Steve McQueen wore its iconic “Monaco” model in the 1971 movie “Le Mans”  and it has a long association with Formula 1, including a partnership with Ferrari through the 1970s and with McLaren over the last quarter-century  .

Through it all, technology has remained a primary focus. Heuer’s 1985 acquisition by TAG (it was subsequently snapped up by luxury goods behemoth LVMH) certainly did nothing to dilute it: after all, TAG stands for Technologie d’Avant Garde.

And as the recent Monaco V4 demonstrates, it keeps turning out splendidly precise timepieces that look elegant and sporty at once. As TAG Heuer might argue this year in particular, it is all about the DNA.