TAG Heuer - Le Mans 24 hours
For the 24H du Mans, on 13 & 14 June 2015, TAG Heuer will be in attendance at the most legendary of endurance motor races on the track with Team Nissan Nismo and their LMP1 hybrid race car, on the wrist of Patrick Dempsey with his Dempsey Racing team in the GTE-Am class, but also with the two "Friends of the Brand", Chinese driver Ho-Pin Tung and Indian driver Karun Chandhock, both competing in the LMP2 class.
Ever since the 1970s with Ferrari, and of course with Steve McQueen and his Monaco watch for the cult Le Mans film, the history of TAG Heuer has been intimately entwined with that of the circuit almost every year.
For 2015, TAG Heuer is partnering with the phenomenon that is the Nissan GT-R LM NISMO: authentic Avant-Garde design.
After 16 years of absence, Nissan is back with a revolutionary new car, a true technological challenge. An incredible car with a unique design, it is a behemoth with more than 1,000 horsepower, hybrid front wheel drive and a V6 3-litre twin turbo engine. It is the only vehicle in 2015 to be powered in this way - all the others are propulsion - not seen since 1997. A large prototype engine listed in the premier class (LMP1), it brings together the latest technologies in its kinetic energy recovery system, which is incredibly demanding to implement. Three cars have been made, with 9 drivers who will take turns to drive them. Three of them, Lucas Ordonez, Jann Mardenborough and Mark Shulzhitskiy are all graduates of the Nissan Academy, the "school" for drivers which recruits...using a PlayStation game.
TAG Heuer Carrera "NISMO" Calibre 16 Day-Date Chronograph Special Edition
At the 24H du Mans, TAG Heur will be launching the Carrera "NISMO" Calibre 16 Day-Date Chronograph Special Edition. With its 43 mm case in titanium, micro-blasted with titanium carbide, the timepiece offers robustness and lightness. Its sporty spirit is enhanced by its black dress, adorned with charcoal grey and red bands on the dial. The ceramic bezel is scratch-proof and features a tachometer for measuring average speed, while the caseback is decorated with a Nissan Nismo decal.
The TAG Heuer Carrera "NISMO" Calibre 16 Day-Date Chronograph Special Edition is equipped with the calibre 16 movement, known for its reliability and robustness. It is fitted with a Soft Touch matt alligator strap with red top-stitching.
TAG Heuer - Pioneering Swiss Chronographs for 150 years
At the occasion of its 150th anniversary and only a few weeks after commercializing the Monaco V4, TAG Heuer launches a new chronograph, produced and assembled in-house at its Swiss production sites in Cornol (Jura) and La Chaux de Fonds (Neuchâtel). Based on an existing platform developed by SII (Seiko Instruments Inc.) of which TAG Heuer has acquired the intellectual property usage rights, the Calibre 1887 was completely indutrialized by the TAG Heuer Research and Development Team. The team also significantly re-developed some of its key components to match the new high-end Swiss assortment and increase precision and reliability. The project has already generated 45 new production and assembly jobs.
Accurately measuring time is a complicated undertaking, and the Swiss watchmaking industry has been the standard bearer of excellence in the field since the 16th century.
Even more difficult, however, is dividing time, precisely, into the smallest possible fractions, by means of a chronograph function — a chronometric mechanism that accurately measures elapsed time.
A more recent innovation, dating only from the nineteenth century, the chronographs is rightly considered the most complex watchmaking complication in terms of construction and components. Once again, the Swiss are the unrivalled masters of its manufacture — and since 1860, TAG Heuer has been its pioneering virtuoso.
The world leader in avant-garde sports watches and chronographs market, TAG Heuer innovates more than any other watch brand. Refusing to rest on its laurels, it has again and again pushed back the limits of chronograph functionality and precision. Today, in this fiercely competitive industry, TAG Heuer, the only watch brand to master 1/10th and 1/100th of a second precision in a mechanical automatic chronograph movement, continues its committed drive towards manufacturing excellence.
TAG Heuer: Reinventing Swiss watchmaking tradition by challenging its conventions
Innovation has a long tradition at TAG Heuer. Through its steadfast commitment to creativity, quality and service, the company has transformed itself from a small workshop in the Swiss Jura to one of the most prestigious watchmaking brands in the world.
From the world's first oscillating pinion, patented in 1887 and still the beating heart of virtually every mechanical chronograph, to the launch of the revolutionary, belt-driven Monaco V4 in 2009, TAG Heuer has led the way. In 1911, the company launched the first car dashboard chronograph, the famous Time of Trip, followed in 1916, by the Mikrograph, the first stopwatch able to measure 1/100th of a second. In 1933, it rolled out the Autavia, the first dashboard timekeeper for both automobiles and aviation. In 1966, the Microtimer became the first-ever portable timekeeping system precise to 1/1,000th of a second. In 1969, TAG Heuer patented the Chronomatic Calibre 11, the first automatic chronograph movement with micro-rotor. In 2005, the TAG Heuer Calibre 360, presented as a concept chronograph at BaselWorld, became the first mechanical chronograph to display 1/100th of second. In 2007, TAG Heuer laid down another benchmark by launching the Link Calibre S, the first electro-mechanical chronograph accurate to 1/100th of a second.
Now TAG Heuer is ready to push Swiss tradition even further…
TAG Heuer: From Heritage to Innovation — The Calibre 1887
To continue its reign as the world leader in luxury chronographs, TAG Heuer needs unique, technically different and challenging movements. Just as important, however, to keep market share, it needs unlimited access to mechanical movements, in order to further distinguish itself as the worldwide leader in mechanical chronographs. This is why, in early 2006, the brand decided to industrialize and manufacture the Calibre 1887, its own in-house, high-volume chronograph movement.
This exceptional new automatic rewinding calibre joins the Calibre 11, 12, 16, 17, 1887, 36 and 360, extending TAG Heuer's fleet of mechanical chronograph movements to seven — the broadest range in the luxury watchmaking world.
Oscillating at 28,800 beats per hour, the Calibre 1887's 39-jewel, 29.3mm movement has 320 working parts. It is a powerful engine and a breathtaking feat of engineering prowess.
True to its inspiration, it is composed of an audaciously re-engineered version of the brand's 1887-patented oscillating pinion and a column wheel.
PRECISION
At the occasion of its 150th anniversary, TAG Heuer has re-engineered one of Edouard Heuer's greatest contributions to watchmaking: the oscillating pinion of 1887. The result is an all-new, manufactured in-house chronograph: the TAG Heuer Calibre 1887.
The oscillating pinion, which comprises a mobile stem and two pinions, allows the chronograph to function very efficiently by replacing the two large wheels of the anterior movements. A coupling system enables the chronograph to locate onto the watch movement with ultimate precision. The chronograph's lightning fast start — an incredible 2/1,000th-of-a-second — guarantees the utmost in timekeeping accuracy.
MECHANICS
The column wheel, which governs start, stop and reset functions, ensures extreme accuracy with a super-soft click of the button.
TAG Heuer: Pioneering Swiss precision and craftsmanship for 150 years
TAG Heuer's innovative and avant-garde esprit is not only found in the originality of its creations, but also in the way in which it manufactures and assembles them. To do so, the company brings together designers, production and quality engineers, with other specialists from the watch, car and medical industries.
The Calibre 1887 is the fifth movement assembled 100% in-house by TAG Heuer, joining the powerful Microtimer 1/1000, launched in 2003, the first-ever wrist chronograph and timekeeping system accurate to 1/1000th of a second; the Calibre 360, launched in 2005, the only mechanical movement capable of measuring and displaying 100th of a second; the Calibre S, launched in 2007, the world's easiest-to-read chronograph; and the V4, launched in 2009, the revolutionary belt-driven mechanical movement with ball bearings. To bring these movements to market, TAG Heuer created an R&D team specialized in movement research. This massive investment in R&D has enabled TAG Heuer to entirely dedicate itself to quality and service — at a level bordering on obsession, especially at the testing department of the TAG Heuer Laboratory, where the Swiss watchmaking industry's rigorous requirements are matched or surpassed by TAG Heuer's own exacting standards.
To produce the Calibre 1887, TAG Heuer followed a simple philosophy: go to the best suppliers when the company can get the best quality at the best rate, but produce itself the components it can make better. The movement's main plate and bridges, as well as the oscillating weight plate, are produced at TAG Heuer's industrial facility at Cornol, which accommodates a workshop dedicated to making the movement's mechanical parts. For the assortment - composed of the balance-spring, the pallets and the escape-wheel — TAG Heuer has decided to buy it from Nivarox, the leading Swiss specialist in the production of oscillating and escapement parts.
The movement is assembled in a new dust-free conditions workshop created in 2008, when the company expanded its La Chaux-de-Fonds main site by 30% by adding a fourth building to its facility.
TAG Heuer took inspiration from other high-tech sectors to develop a revolutionary semi-automated line on which each movement is individually traced by high-performance software.
After each station, the movement is automatically sent to the next relevant station, but humans are always in complete control. The fluid organization in two "U" cells — a modernisation of classic Taylorism — optimises the production process, and the mix of time-honoured artisanal craftsmanship with high-tech automation and space-age materials allows for the creation of incredibly innovative products. Assembly is just-in-time flexible and can be easily adapted to other tasks, quickly switching to the assembly of a different watch movement without having to make major modifications to the line. Once again, the state-of-the art equipment comes from the very best Swiss machine specialist.
However, TAG Heuer does not want to manufacture all its movements, and will continue to buy movements from top Swiss suppliers like Zenith, Dubois-Depraz and ETA. The Calibre 1887 will equip only a small proportion of TAG Heuer's production. In tandem, by developing prestigious and rare movements in-house, such as the 2009 belt-driven mechanical V4, TAG Heuer stays true to its unique brand DNA — innovation, avant-garde, excellence, performance, and human achievement.
[Rating: 5 / 5 stars]
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