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GPHG 2015 - 9 facts you probably didn't know about the GPHG
The official website of the GPHG offers a mine of useful information to those who know how to access and process it. Using data mining techniques, we crawled the site to extract meaningful data about the 3,000-plus watches that have been entered into the competition over the past 14 years in order to come up with nine facts from the GPHG archives.
Note that this was largely made possible by the fact that the GPHG records its specifications in a standardised format since 2008, allowing the data to be read quite easily. Before 2008, however, only the brand name, model and a descriptive text (which could be either in English or French) are recorded on the official website. And before 2003, only the prize winners, rather than all participating watches, are recorded. The analysis below is therefore based mainly, but not exclusively, on the categorised data available from 2008.
1) Total number of different brands that have participated: 289
2) Brand with most number of entries: TAG Heuer (79 entries)
3) Biggest watch entered: The Bichrono Rafaga by DeLaCour measures a whopping 60.5 x 59mm and was entered in 2013 but did not make the preselection.
4) Smallest watch entered: Ludovic Lesemann's "Peel Me!" at 15mm diameter.
The only entry in the competition by jeweller Ludovic Lesemann, the original design of the "Peel Me!" watch took the form of a sphere that could be peeled like an orange to form a bracelet. The 1800 diamonds used in each of the 33 limited edition watches pushed the cost to 90,000 Swiss francs. Sadly, this interesting piece failed to make the cut.
5) Most popular size of watch: 42mm
More a point for reflection, this figure is testament to an era of relatively large watches that may well be passing. Will this figure still be the same in five year's time? (Note that this is the most popular single diameter indicated across all 3,000-plus watches and not an average of all the different sizes submitted).
6) The thinnest watch ever entered: Piaget Altiplano Extra Thin enamel
A factual inaccuracy in the archives mistakenly throws up a Piaget Altiplano reference G0A33082 as the thinnest watch ever entered in the competition. But the case height of 2mm indicated would make the complete watch even thinner than the movement inside it (which is 2.1mm high)! The real honour goes to another Piaget Altiplano model, the 900P entered in this year's competition, which is the world's thinnest mechanical watch at 3.65mm.
7) The most expensive watch entered in the GPHG: Hublot 5 million dollars.
Ironically, it almost slipped through the net in our analysis because the price is not indicated in the watch specifications, even though it is very clear from the watch's name. Submitted and pre-selected in the GPHG 2012, it is by far the most expensive ever seen in the competition, costing twice the price of its nearest rival.
8) The cheapest watch entered: Azzaro Swiss Legend (365 Swiss francs)
9) The most water resistant: The limited-edition Pita Oceana model entered in the GPHG 2010 was water resistant to 5000 metres and broke new ground in diver's watch technology. Unfortunately it was not shortlisted in the competition.
A more technical overview on how we produced this analysis (in English only), together with the programming source code, can be found on this Github page.
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TAG Heuer - Focus
Under the leadership of the highly experienced Jean-Claude Biver for the past year, the TAG Heuer production facilities and collections have begun a major shift enabling the brand to adjust to the new market conditions while remaining true to its slogan "Swiss avant-garde since 1860". This turbocharged approach is symbolized by the Carrera Caliber Heuer 01 presented at Baselworld 2015: a new case, a new caliber, a new design, a new construction - and all within a Manufacture-made selfwinding chronograph featuring a quality-price ratio intended for a broader and doubtless younger audience. The sporty, modern personality of this timepiece in steel and titanium with modular integrated elements and various types of finishing around an openworked dial aspires to sophistication, clearly highlighted through the sapphire crystal with the PVD-coated skeleton-worked rotor, as well as the red column wheel of the in-house movement. And that's just the start…
Case: brushed steel and titanium, sapphire back, anthracite bezel with tachymetric scale, water-resistant to 100m
Diameter: 45mm
Movement: mechanical self-winding (Caliber Heuer 01, 50h power reserve), red
column wheel, skeletonized chronograph bridge and new oscillating weight
Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, date, chronograph DIAL : openworked, three counters, rhodiumed hour-markers with red dot enhanced by white and red SuperluminovaTM
Strap: rubber, folding clasp with safety pushbuttons
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TAG Heuer - The brand reaffirms its sporting roots
TAG Heuer is partnering long-distance races : New York (TCS New York City Marathon), Chicago (Bank Of America Chicago Marathon), Boston () , Berlin (BMW Berlin Marathon) and Paris (Schneider electric Marathon de Paris), Oslo and Moscow.
It means that TAG Heuer is going back to its origins and focusing once again on its core business, sports watches and chronographs, and on the sport, challenge, competition and desire to excel that are in its blood. This new partnership enables the brand to extend the range of imagery that backs up the message encapsulated in its "Don't Crack Under Pressure" campaign.
TAG Heuer has always invested a large portion of its marketing budget in sponsorship,
as it considers that being associated with a sports event not only ensures a higher profile with a specific target group but also enriches the brand's territory by providing content. The brand also has an opportunity to showcase all the values it shares with the world of sport.
The marathon was only for the initiated ten years ago but it is now becoming a more popular sport reaching an international public of all ages, comprising both regulars and new fans. Marathons therefore represent a real opportunity for profile-raising and highly valuable sponsorship : the branding along the entire route, the media advertising, television, press, web, make an impact that goes well beyond the actual race.
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TAG Heuer - Goodwood Festival of Speed
Goodwood showcased a special Celebration Class of iconic cars representing TAG Heuer 's unique association with motorsport and the Greatest Endurance Races, including cars that raced in Carrera PanAmericana and Le Mans. A retail and exhibition space celebrated the milestone of the Carrera with a display of historic models and a range of new designs. On this occasion, TAG Heuer also unveiled the Carrera Calibre 1887 Jack Heuer 80 Limited Edition.TAG Heuer continued to improve the experience for both competitors and spectators with the return of innovative features such as the 100m timed dash off the start line, timing boxes and speed traps. TAG Heuer Ambassadors Jenson Button, Sergio Perez and Allan McNish attended the Festival of Speed.
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TAG Heuer - 50th anniversary of iconic Carrera
A half-century after its dramatic arrival into the motor-racing scene, TAG Heuer's iconic Carrera, the first sports choronograph designed specifically for professional drivers and sports-car enthusiasts, celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Paying homage to the original creator of the iconic series and watchmaking legend, Jack Heuer, TAG Heuer North America held a prominent event that showcased the Carrera series from its birth through today. With vintage and modern porshe's displayed alongside imagery of Jack Heuer and racing legends like the Rodriguez brothers, Juan-Manuel Fangio and more, the evening celebrated the spirit and passion of motor-sports.
Jack Heuer told inspirational stories behind the brand to watch and auto enthusiasts alike as well as the high-profile reporters, journalists and retailers in attendance. Also in attendance was celebrity watch collector, Dan Stevens, who is well known for his starring role on the hit series "Downton Abbey".
Guests enjoyed cocktails and passed plates provided by the renowned catering company, Olivier Chang while viewing the vintage and modern Carrera timepieces, porshes and artwork from the prestigious graffiti artist, Mr. Kaves who gifted his art to Jack Heuer himself.
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TAG Heuer - Carrera Calibre 8
Speed, emotion, glamour: A half-century after its dramatic arrival on the motor-racing scene, the iconic Carrera, the first sports chronograph designed specifically for professional drivers and sports-car enthusiasts, remains the standard-bearer of TAG Heuer's unrivaled motorsports pedigree - a perfect synergy that began with Time of Trip (1911), the first car dashboard chronograph, and continues to this day through the brand's ongoing partnerships with the best individuals and teams in driving disciplines around the world.
Carrera Calibre 8 Grande Date - GMT - COSC (41 mm)
Perfect for globetrotters: the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 8 automatic movement features a large date, shown through a beveled aperture hand-applied at 12 o'clock. The bigger, 41mm case also displays a second GMT time zone counter at 6 o'clock.
The elegance comes from the timeless case design of the Carrera, which is fine brushed and polished and the readability are the distinguishing characteristics of this COSC-certified.movement visible through the sapphire crystal caseback .
Dial choices are silver, anthracite and black always with hand applied index; strap options are brown, anthracite or black alligator, or the stunning and ergonomic H-shape steel bracelet with alternating polished and fine brushed finishings.
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TAG Heuer - Sport and glamour in Monaco
Even if TAG Heuer's finalist didn't end up winning the Master, she highly impressed by her game all week and her exquite on-course sense of style, wearing her TAG Heuer Monaco Lady in white while playing.
Currently ranked 11th at LPGA, 25 years-old Seo Hee-kyung became the Korean voice of TAG Heuer in 2010. She joined LPGA #2 Suzann Pettersen in the "Glamourous TAG Heuer Ladies Golf Dream Team".
Congratulations to the Seo Hee-kyung and to the Korean team for spotting such a talent!!
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TAG Heuer - Maria Sharapova
While she is determined, audacious and passionate, she is also extremely feminine.No other champion so clearly symbolizes the blend of sport and seduction.
Maria is involved in the development of the TAG Heuer Formula 1 Glamour Diamonds, a model which perfectly matches her unique appeal that is trendy and glamorous yet very relaxed.
TENNIS
Professional tennis player since 2001. With victories at Wimbledon 2004 and the US Open 2006, Maria Sharapova, who also achieved WTA classification* in 2006, is the new world tennis star.
http://www.mariasharapova.com
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Baselworld - Great Success
The exhibitors were particularly satisfied, with 103,200 visitors (+2.5% / 2010) and outstanding sales. The innovations and trends presented underlined Baselworld's key global position as the leading show for the watch and jewellery industry.
At the 39th Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show, a total of 1892 watch and jewellery producers and representatives of the supplier industry, from no fewer than 45 nations, have showcased their exclusive world innovations and sophisticated collections in Basel over the past eight days. The number of accredited journalists set a new record, with 3055 media representatives (+ 5% / 2010) from all the different continents, reporting on this event.
Overwhelming number of visitors and highly satisfied exhibitors
The influx of visitors has to be described as overwhelming this year: 103,200 visitors from more than 100 countries marked the second-best result of all times for Baselworld and an increase of 2.5% over the previous year. The exhibitors reported that the quality of the visitors was excellent.
This year's exhibiting companies declared themselves to be highly satisfied with the business they conducted and the sales they achieved.
Jacques J. Duchêne, President of the Exhibitors' Committee, commented as follows at the end of the show: "We can speak of an excellent year. We, as exhibitors, are very satisfied and have achieved highly gratifying sales. The expectations for this year's Baselworld were exceptionally high - precisely after two particularly positive months at the start of the year. And they were certainly fulfilled. Given the current global political developments, however, we will be treating this pleasing and optimistic result with caution."
François Thiebaud, President of the Swiss exhibitors at Baselworld, confirms: "This was an excellent show for us. We achieved splendid sales, and we feel a great sense of satisfaction. Baselworld's global reach has played a key role in this over the past few days."
Jerôme Pernici, Marketing Director at Patek Philippe, says: "We were able to work particularly well here: it was an excellent year. We achieved record figures in terms of both buyer and media contacts."
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, Co-President of Chopard, underlines the importance of the event: "Baselworld is the sole international show for the watch and jewellery industry that our company participates in. It is, and will remain, a focal point of every financial year for us and makes a key contribution to our sales result. We are highly satisfied with the sales we achieved and the customer frequency."
For Françoise Bezzola, Vice President Communication at TAG Heuer, the show was a great success: "Our stand was frequented by excellent numbers of both specialist dealers and journalists. We have recorded two-figure growth rates by comparison to last year."
"Baselworld is an exceptional event that cannot be missed. 2011 was a fantastic show for us, an excellent year, and our innovations were particularly appreciated by both our customers and the media", reports Olivier Bernheim, CEO of Raymond Weil.
Nicolas Beau, Directeur International Horlogerie at Chanel, sums up the show as follows: "Here we can demonstrate Chanel's creativity and strengths in watch-making. Baselworld 2011 will go down as the most successful show in history for us - in terms of both sales and media contacts."
"The course of business was highly gratifying", says Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of Hublot SA. "This show continues to be of major importance".
Intensive use is made of the options offered by the unique nature of the World Watch and Jewellery Show. Manon Colombies, Export Manager of Festina Candino SA, says on this: "Baselworld is our most important sales point anywhere in the world. The fact that we can maintain and foster our network of contacts is one of the biggest advantages of this show. And we naturally appreciate the professional setting in which the show is held."
Great satisfaction amongst the jewellery brands too
As far as the jewellery exhibitors are concerned, Christoph Wellendorff, Managing Director of Wellendorff, is particularly satisfied: "Baselworld 2011 was exceptionally successful for us: our very high expectations were even exceeded. Here in Basel we have been able to meet more than 90% of our customers in just a single week. Baselworld is unrivalled and the only jewellery show that we attend, and our participation in Basel will continue to be a very good investment for our brand."
The expectations of Giuseppe Picchiotti, owner of Picchiotti, were similarly fulfilled. "Last year was already very successful for our company. And we have now been able to establish ourselves at this high level. Baselworld 2011 has opened up new options and opportunities for us in the Southeast Asian market in particular ".
The brand Meissen Joaillerie participated in Baselworld for the first time. For Managing Director, Christian Kurtzke, it is quite clear: "Baselworld offers us the best platform for opening up the markets of the future, such as Latin America. We have been able to engage in outstanding talks and are particularly impressed by the media presence here."
Large numbers of positive echoes were also to be heard in the remaining sectors of Baselworld on the closing day of the show.
Hence Bernd-Willi Ripp, Managing Director of Groh+Ripp, had the following to say: "For the world's leading dealers in precious stones, Baselworld constitutes the most important show of the year. After achieving a good result in 2010, we were able to record very good sales here in Basel in 2011."
Enormous media interest, with record journalist numbers
The renewed increase in media interest is reflected in the record number of 3055 accredited journalists from more than 70 countries, marking a 5% increase over the previous year. For the very first time, more than 3000 media representatives were thus welcomed at Baselworld. All the key specialist media for the luxury goods sector come to Basel. And global coverage of Baselworld is on the increase in the daily media and business press, as well as on TV and radio. As Françoise Bezzola, Vice President Communication at TAG Heuer, explains: "As an exhibitor, it is possible to receive a maximum number of journalists at Baselworld for just a minimum time outlay."
Baselworld 2012
Those in charge of Baselworld can look optimistically into the future. For show manager, Sylvie Ritter, it is clear that "this was one of the best Baselworld of all times. We will do everything possible to ensure that we successfully establish ourselves at this new high level. This show will remain the most important and highest-quality event for the international watch and jewellery industry." Due to the construction work for the new buildings at the Basel exhibition site, Baselworld 2012 is being held from March 8 to 15, 2012 in Basel.
Baselworld - The World Watch and Jewellery Show
Dates: 2012: March 8 to 15
2013: April 25 to May
2014: March 27 to April 3
Venue: Exhibition Center Basel (Messe Basel)
Organiser: MCH Swiss Exhibition (Basel) Ltd.
Internet: www.Baselworld.com
E-mail: visitor@Baselworld.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Baselworld
Twitter: www.twitter.com/Baselworld
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TAG Heuer - The Manufactures Turns Greener
In an effort to reduce its carbon footprint, the Swiss Avant-Garde brand signed an agreement with Swiss energy distributor VITEOS and Planair, a Swiss consulting firm specialized in environmental issues, to equip the rooftops of its four buildings with solar panels.
The decision to undertake the feasibility study came at direction of President and CEO Jean-Christophe Babin following Leonardo DiCaprio's visit of the TAG Heuer factory in March this year.
"Leonardo visited the factory with an eye on everything that could be done to reduce our energy consumption" said Babin. "His factory visit in La Chaux-de-Fonds turned into an inspiring and creative environmental audit. Leonardo combined his environmental mind with a highly respectful approach toward our staff, making his visit an impactful highlight of TAG Heuer's 150th anniversary celebration."
In reaching this decision, many aspects of the company's sustainable development policy were discussed and several brilliant ideas were proposed. Planair supported TAG Heuer in conducting feasibility studies on the various options. An agreement on the photovoltaic roofs was reached at the end of September. The deal will commit TAG Heuer and VITEOS for a minimum of 15 years for the installation of over 500 photovoltaic panels dispatched on the roofs of TAG Heuer's four buildings in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. The annual production should reach 100'000 kWh. The construction will begin today and continue in December. The new solar fed electric system should start running over the winter.
Jean-Christophe Babin remarked: "The annual production we expect is comparable to 400'000 kilometers with a Tesla electric roadster. We just celebrated our 150th anniversary with the first world tour in a 100% electric car, the TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster. During an eventful Odyssey, we rode over 37'000 km. The math is simple: our electricity production will be equivalent to over 10 trips around the world with an electric car! "
The project, which is expected to cost 750'000 Swiss Francs, is co-financed by TAG Heuer and VITEOS. The photovoltaic panels will be supplied by a European company in order to limit the carbon footprint of shipping the equipment. The deal also includes TAG Heuer's commitment to the local environmental treaties to reduce the company's greenhouse gas emissions by 17% over the next ten years, positioning them as a contributor Switzerland's pursuit of Kyoto Protocol set objectives. With this project, TAG Heuer, mastering time for over 150 years, enters a new era mastering energy.
This announcement coincides with the release of a first Leonardo DiCaprio co-designed mechanical watch, the Aquaracer 500M, which was redesigned by DiCaprio as part of an initiative to raise money in support of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Green Cross International, two of the most influential and effective environmental organizations in the world.
Since DiCaprio joined TAG Heuer's impressive roster of Ambassadors in 2009, the company has been walking the green line more than ever.
"TAG Heuer is a company that gets it", declared DiCaprio in a speech in Basel earlier this year. "Because TAG Heuer understands that they have a corporate mission, but also a global mission, a mission that is bigger than all of us. TAG Heuer is a company that has taken a stand for what it believes in… And I'm proud to be here today, celebrating a company that is standing up to give back to environmental non profit organizations alongside me."
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TAG Heuer - The Pendulum Concept
TAG Heuer, the leading pioneer of Swiss watchmaking innovation since 1860, reinvents the heart of the mechanical movement
Developed and constructed in-house by TAG Heuer
A major watchmaking innovation!
During its 150 years at the forefront of the Swiss avant-garde, TAG Heuer has written some of the most important chapters in the history of mechanical watchmaking — from the oscillating pinion patented in 1887 to the groundbreaking 1/100th-of-a-second precision of the Calibre 360 chronograph in 2005.
Technological advancements like this point to one underlying truth: TAG Heuer does not innovate for innovation's sake. The brand's passion for the avant-garde is an essential element of its DNA and history, and the driving force of its R&D strategy.
TAG Heuer R&D objectives in the 3rd millennium: to progressively re-invent the three elementary principles of watchmaking — energy, transmission and regulation
Like most machines, a mechanical watch movement involves four basic operations: energy is generated, stored, transmitted and regulated. For centuries, these constants of mechanical watchmaking have been performed by three complementary blocks: a power storage system with cylindrical barrel, a transmission system with pinions and gears, and a regulation system with balance wheel, spiral hairspring and escapement.
With the TAG Heuer Monaco V4 Concept Watch, TAG Heuer substituted the traditional pinion and gear transmission with a belt-driven mechanical transmission. An award-winning BaselWorld concept watch in 2004, the Monaco V4 became a commercial reality at the end of 2009, when it was successfully launched in limited edition of 150 "Haute Horlogerie" pieces.
Now, to mark its 150th anniversary, TAG Heuer proudly introduces the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept, the first-ever mechanical movement without hairspring.
TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept: a radical "out of the box" rethink of mechanical time regulation design and performance
Since the creation of the Galileo-inspired hairspring by Christiaan Huygens in 1675, the regulating organ of all mechanical watches has been based on a balance wheel and spiral-shaped torsion hairspring system. A coiled strip of fine metal alloy, the hairspring provides the torque necessary for the balance wheel to oscillate and regulate its frequency. Over the centuries, it has been significantly modified and improved. Charles-Edouard Guillaume (1861-1938), the son of a Swiss watchmaker, discovered new alloys (Invar and Elinvar) that significantly reduced the metal spring's thermal sensitivity. Guillaume won the Nobel Prize for Physics for this invention in 1920.
With the challenge of temperature diminished by Guillaume's alloys, the spiral hairspring regulation system came to dominate mechanical movement design. However, the mechanical hairspring has three serious design limitations: a mass that makes it sensitive to gravity and deforms its geometry; a material that makes it sensitive to thermal expansion; and a divergence between its geometric centre and its centre of mass. These may cause isochronal issues that can be technically and physically improved but never completely eliminated.
Overcoming the design limitations inherent in the traditional regulation system by eliminating the need for a spiral hairspring was the first challenge TAG Heuer set for itself. The second was keeping the movement 100% mechanical: conventional watchmaking wisdom has always held that a mechanical watch without spiral hairspring would necessarily require another energy source for its regulation.
In the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept, the traditional hairspring is replaced by an "invisible" or virtual spring derived from magnets. The complete device forms a harmonic oscillator. The magnetic field, generated by means of 4 high-performance magnets and controlled in 3D through complex geometric calculations, provides the linear restoring torque necessary for the alternative oscillations of the balance wheel. The oscillating period of the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept is resistant to changes from perturbing forces, which is what makes it an exceptionally good timekeeping device. The movement built with this revolutionary oscillator is fully mechanical and does not contain any electronics or driven actuators. The magnets generate a constant field over decades.
TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept, the world's first oscillator in a mechanical movement without hairspring, beats at 43,200/hour (6 Hertz) — making it a superlative representative of TAG Heuer's unique mastery of high frequencies and ultimate precision. It requires no additional components and is based on physical magnetic properties. It gets its name from an earlier Huygens creation — the pendulum clock of 1657.
TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept: A potent new technical milestone in mechanical movements
The TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept not only overturns 3 centuries of conventional watchmaking tradition, it also represents in and of itself an enormous technological leap forward. In a classical spiral hairspring system, the effect of gravity due to mass is a dominant issue. With the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept, the problem no longer even exists. There is no loss of amplitude and the movement's frequency can be modulated on a very large spectrum of frequency without overburdening the power supply. The result is a significant increase in precision (division of time) and performance (frequency accuracy and stability).
The TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept is the first-ever magnetic oscillator without hairspring capable of providing a restoring torque comparable to that of a hairspring: the basic principle of the Swiss anchor escapement is therefore unchanged, but the absence of mass and therefore inertia allows for much larger frequencies. Theoretical precision is significantly higher as it is possible to oscillate at small angles (the elementary principle of oscillator accuracy) without altering the return torque and, especially important, without causing geometric deformations.
TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept Project: 5 years of R&D effort
The TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept project involved in-house TAG Heuer R&D engineers and watchmakers working in an extensive research partnership with microsystems research experts at the Integrated Actuators Laboratory (LAI), part of the Microtechnics Institute of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).
Starting from scratch has required advanced digital simulation coupled with physical analysis (mechanics, magnetism and thermal behaviour). It took TAG Heuer's R&D team 3 years of intensive digital 3D simulation research to precisely orient the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept's virtual magnetic spring.
An old adversary still remains: the magnets are sensitive to temperature. The challenge facing TAG Heuer now is to discover the magnetic equivalent of invar-elinvar: to, in a sense, add Charles Edouard Guillaume's accomplishments to those of Christiaan Huygens. Once addressed, the TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept will no longer be a concept but a new milestone in mechanical regulator technology. As with the V4, this may take years, but TAG Heuer is committed to taking on the challenge and pursuing the epic Pendulum adventure.
TAG Heuer does not claim that the Pendulum Concept will take the place of traditional, high-quality Swiss hairsprings in mainstream mechanical movements, but rather offer a "Haute Horlogerie" alternative, which could lead to high-end limited editions in the future, as was the case with the Monaco V4's movement transmission innovations.
TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Pendulum Concept: a breakthrough movement housed inside a motor sports-inspired icon of premium luxury
The Grand Carrera is the utmost prestigious incarnation of TAG Heuer's unrivalled motor racing heritage and passion for avant-garde design and technology. Launched in 2007 and inspired by modern GT cars, the series was an instant success, widely acclaimed by watch and motor-sports enthusiasts for its effortless, at-a-glance readability and superlative aesthetics.
The design of the TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Pendulum Concept is faithful to the exclusive luxury codes of the Grand Carrera: polished and angled edges, curved and facetted horns on both sides of black titanium covered steel case. The special dial aperture at 9 o'clock allows to admire the beating heart of TAG Heuer Pendulum Concept's avant-garde movement.
Inside and out, this is a superlative timepiece, a noble extension of the Grand Carrera collection and a worthy showcase of a breakthrough advancement in watchmaking technology.
The TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Pendulum Concept opens a promising new era in watchmaking, with potentially powerful new movements precise to ever-smaller fractions of time. The effect on future watches and chronographs design and function may be huge — and TAG Heuer once again leads the way even though it will take years before it will become a commercial realty. Patents have been filed and are pending.
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TAG Heuer - BaselWorld is MonacoWorld!
The Monaco Myth is the overarching theme for TAG Heuer at this year's prestigious BaselWorld Watch Fair. The spectacular TAG Heuer booth - winner of a Silver Award at this year's EXHIBITOR Magazine's 23rd Annual Exhibit Design Award - will be trimmed top to bottom with the iconic timepiece's colours and legends.
The McQueen/Monaco decor includes specially commissioned portraits of the Hollywood legend by acclaimed German painter Jörg Döring.
To further celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Steve McQueen's mythic timepiece, the Swiss brand, the world leader in luxury sports-focused watches and chronographs since 1860, is unveiling two special watches just for the occasion.
The MONACO Twenty Four Concept Chronograph
The star of the show is this latest groundbreaking concept watch based on the mythic Monaco.
The high-tech prototype's unique tubular design and extreme shock-protected components are inspired by Le Mans endurance racecars. The TAG Heuer Calibre 36 movement "floats" inside the oversized (40.5mm) black PVD-coated case, suspended within a steel-tube housing very much like a race car's driver's protective cockpit cage, and visible through the dial face and the sapphire crystal caseback. The components are further insulated against shock and torque by a new "composite filter" material used in aerospace and auto racing. Custom built in industrial-grade tungsten, the three arrows of the oscillating weight echoes a GT car's chrome mags. The large-faced, black-textured dial bears an oversize "24" at 12 o'clock, in honour of the 24 of Le Mans, and the iconic blue and orange livery of Gulf Oil - the same colours TAG Heuer Ambassador Steve McQueen wore in his 1970 film classic, Le Mans.
Water resistant to 100 metres, with anti-reflective double-sided treatment on the curved sapphire scratch-resistant crystal glass to ensure the best readability, this is TAG Heuer's R&D team's most daring creation to date.
The Monaco Calibre 12 Chronograph Gulf Limited Edition
Monaco glamour revisited in Gulf-liveried limited edition of 5,000: to honour TAG Heuer's ongoing partnership with motor-racing icon Gulf Oil, a new limited edition version of the vintage Monaco -with for the first time an elegant, anti-reflective sapphire crystal front and back - is slated for worldwide launch in September 2009. The seriously upgraded version houses the TAG Heuer Calibre 12 Automatic Chronograph Movement, a high-performance all-Swiss engine based on the Dubois Depraz 2008.The larger (39mm) case gives the watch a more contemporary look, while the orange and blue meteor dial design, inspired by the Porsche Gulf 917K driven by Steve McQueen in Le Mans, expresses its professional racing heritage. Vintage "Gulf" logo and date window at 6 o'clock, small second at 3 and chronograph minute at 9, faceted and a stylish grey alligator strap with grey stitching - the 5,000-piece edition is a racing purist's dream machine.
The Monaco Watch Lady Grande Date White Alligator QUARTZ
A serious piece of head-turning eye candy: 13 diamonds on a white mother-of-pearl dial, double that on the bezel, and all wrapped up with a trend-savvy strap of white alligator. The case dimensions are big - 37 x 36 mm - as is the striking Grande Date window at 12 o'clock. Polished crown, polished finish, luminescent markers on the diamond-shaped hands, hand-applied faceted indexes and a small-second counter at 6. Our most glamorous Monaco yet hits fashion runways this June.
Dial: 0.081 carats. Bezel: 0.78 carats.
[Rating: 5 / 5 stars]
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