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TAG Heuer - New ambassador
Since Rush, the 2013 motorsport film of which TAG Heuer was a partner and which starred Chris Hemsworth as the Formula 1 driver James Hunt, the friendship between the Australian actor and the Swiss watch brand has grown ever closer.
His international profile, professionalism and authenticity make Chris the perfect embodiment of the motto "Don't Crack Under Pressure". So it was perfectly natural for Jean-Claude Biver, CEO of TAG Heuer and President of the LVMH Group Watch Division, to propose to Chris to become an official ambassador for the brand.
It was also a natural choice for TAG Heuer to have an Australian as an international ambassador, as the Swiss watch brand has a b historic presence in the country. He joins the family of prestigious ambassadors for the Swiss watch brand, which counts Ronaldo, Tom Brady, and Cara Delevingne among others.
An international advertising campaign will begin just before Christmas, featuring the image of Chris Hemsworth with the new TAG Heuer Carrera Heuer-01 in-house chronograph.
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TAG Heuer - Festival de Cannes
The brand was present at the side of Chad McQueen, son of Steve McQueen, and the whole team behind "Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans," for the film's grand premiere screening on the famed Croisette in Cannes.
As the documentary traces Steve McQueen's passion for automotive racing with images from his now legendary movie 'Le Mans' and unpublished archive footage made available by his son Chad, we rediscover Steve McQueen in his Heuer racing jumpsuit and on his wrist the famous Monaco, the square-shaped automatic chronograph that had just been launched back then and has since become an icon of the brand.
As the story goes, when filming began in 1970, Steve McQueen insisted on wearing the same racing jumpsuit as racecar champion Jo Siffert, a friend of Jack Heuer who at the time was consulting on the movie. At the time, Jo Siffert was the Ambassador of the Heuer watch company. This kind of endorsement was a new concept in the industry then - an inkling of the 'Avant-Garde' in the logo of today's TAG Heuer.
The screening was followed by a special ebebing event whose numerous gustes included the two race drivers Mark Webber and Mitch Evans who will be at the start line at the 24 Hours of La Mans in three weeks. Obviously, Chad McQueen was wearing the original TAG Heuer Monaco on his wrist. The new Monaco 2015 was displayed at the party.
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Linde Werdelin - The Danish approach to horology
5th October 2009
There are no Alps, no Val de Joux nor a daily herd of watchmakers commuting to each their manufacturing company anywhere to be seen in Denmark. None the less a successful brand has appeared from the land of the Little Mermaid and other fairytales.
"Are we seated properly," Morten Linde asked his partner, Jørn Werdelin - who had just returned from heli-skiing at the highest European mountain, 5600 meter high Elbrus, in Russia. The reason why he asked is due to his experience with medias. If Morten is positiond at the wrong side of Jørn, the picture texts will credit the seated duo Werdelin Linde.
VIEW THE PHOTO GALLERY
Morten and Jørn are obviously used to the press as the watch brand bearing their surnames enjoys great success all around the world, not least Spain, USA, Russia, England and of course the motherland, Denmark. Not only many well established watch medias has long time ago opened the eyes - and magazines - to the Danish watch brand. Even such highly appraised medias such as Monocle, Wall Street Journal and Financial Times have discovered the young up-and-coming watch brand. FT even went as far as to dedicate a whole paragraph in their watch and jewellery special, dubbing Linde Werdelin "New kids on the block" in 2007, when reporting from the annual watch shows, Basel World and SIHH.
A true sports watch
The idea of creating a wristwatch extraordinaire arose in 2003, when the two friends looked into the market of true sports watches. Morten Linde had a long career as designer for i.e. Georg Jensen and TAG Heuer behind him and Jørn Werdelin was a banker based in London at the time. Both are avid skiers and in such a degree that they wanted a watch especially designed and produced to meet their needs on the snowy pistes around the world.
Morten designed the highly innovative Jesper Bank sailors watch for Georg Jensen in 2002. This particular watch offered a duo construction giving the owner the opportunity to wear the watch both as a dedicated nautical watch as well as a daily timepiece. Inspired by this novel idea the Danish duo created the "world's first professional sport swatch," they tell Watch Tempus, while visiting their Danish authorized dealer, Franz Jaeger & Me, in central Copenhagen.
Founder's watch
In 2006 Linde Werdelin could introduce the first batch of the first mechanical watch, Biformeter. 222 units were produced with a dial and case back indicating "founders watch". These early Biformeters were produced to fulfil the interest from family and friends who had followed the highly motivated and ditto creative duo in their quest to create the perfect sports watch.
The Biformeter was however not the only horological product coming from the two friends. More importantly a complimentary attachable digital Instrument followed the intro of the Biformeter and the world press soon picked up on the innovative introduction on a market that is so hard to enter if not backed up by a obscene amount of money, creative PR-agencies and preferably with an expensive Hollywood star to boot as brand ambassador.
Instrumental
The Instrument series offers two models, each meeting professional needs: The Reef (for diving) and The Rock (for skiing/rock climbing). Both Instruments works as a separate clip-on construction with innovative software designed and produced in Denmark. It works with a rechargeable battery not unlike a mobile phone. Both Instruments are produced in lightweight aluminium and milled in a five-axed CNC machine to meet the duos extremely high demands for their product.
Wet
The Reef, formerly known as the Sea Instrument, is an essential tool for protection, guidance and re-experience during diving and under water activities. The Reef has been meticulously developed in conjunction with professional divers and is the first dive computer with a 55mm transflective colour screen offering superior legibility underwater and responding automatically to the environment and the conditions both on land and underwater giving a first class display even in the most awkward of light situations.
Dry
The Rock, an updated version of the Land Instrument, is an essential tool for protection, guidance and re-experience in the mountains or on the ski slopes. The only sports instrument with an external temperature sensor that can capture a whole day's experience graphically, with a main viewing screen that can be personalised to your needs. The Rock is continuously developed by professional athletes and tested in extreme conditions such as The Everest and the South Pole.
"I always carry my temperature measuring device on my ski boots," Jørn Werdelin tells Worldtempus. "And I leave my temperature measuring device outside my hotel window at night. That way I can see how the weather has developed while I slept, hence getting a assumption of what to expect of the day to come," says Morten Linde. "Yes, you become your own little weather man," giggles Jørn, celebrating his and Morten's creation, which they have dubbed "the world's first real sports watch".
Impressive collection
Today Linde Werdelin offers an impressive range of mechanical watches, besides from their - locally produced - digital Instruments. 2009 has introduced the exquisite SpidoLite with independent watch maker Svend Andersen modified movement, the dramatic diver's watch Oktopus, The One (which is a Version 2.0 of the Biformeter) as well as the traveller's cosmopolitan's favourite, the 3 Timer.
Visit "The Lab" to read Morten and Jørn's personal comments and follow the progress of this fascinating and highly innovative Danish watch brand: http://thelab.lindewerdelin.com/
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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.
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TAG Heuer - What is TAG Heuer made of?
INTERVIEW DE JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BABIN, PReSIDENT ET CEO DE TAG HEUER
«What is TAG Heuer made of?»
"Since its creation in 1860 by Edouard Heuer in Saint- Imier, TAG Heuer has asserted itself as the reference in prestigious sports watches and chronographs. Whether as Official Timekeeper for the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, or 83 years later as Official Timekeeper for the Formula 1 World Championship; its selection by the International Olympic Committee and seventy years later by the FIA confirms its unique know-how and its perfect mastery of precision to within thousandths of a second."
This constancy and this obsession with perfection now enable TAG Heuer to hold fourth rank in the international luxury watch market. An important status for brand devotees who interpret this position as a guarantee of enduring success and perceive our models as exceptional and timeless watches. Timelessness is an essential characteristic of prestigious watch brands. It is the capacity to draw on our roots in propelling ourselves forward, while respecting those roots. "Brands become eternal by a combination of these two factors. Twenty years ago, we were perhaps the fortieth worldwide brand and tomorrow, we will perhaps become the third, while retaining our corporate philosophy geared towards prestige and performance and our obsession with quality and innovation", explains Jean-Christophe Babin.THREE DARING AND TIMELESS PRODUCT LINES
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Link Calibre 36. |
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The new Carrera (2002). |
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Ladies 2000 gold. |
THREE DARING AND TIMELESS PRODUCT LINES
Prestige and performance are also conveyed through our three product lines.
First of all, our "Professional Sports Watches" represent the core of the brand and express its sporting heritage in a contemporary manner, combining sporting functions with daring yet timeless designs. Conceived in the early 1980s by Jack Heuer, great-grandson of the founder Edouard Heuer and still Honorary Chairman of TAG Heuer, the "2000 series" provides unique characteristics for prestige sports and particularly for diving. For the new Aquagraph model we are launching in Basel this year, our watchmakers have made a radical innovation in developing the TAG Heuer automatic Caliber 60 movement through close cooperation between professional divers and our watchmakers. Moreover, we have equipped this model with three features that are unique on the market: pushbuttons that are operational at a depth of 500 meters; a major patented innovation in the form of a revolutionary self-locking unidirectional bezel; and an automatic helium vent for decompression chambers. These innovations and patents make the 2000 Aquagraph a new benchmark in the prestigious and precision oriented world of diving.
The "Link" series introduced in 1987 and characterized by its S-shaped bracelet focuses on style and elegance, while also endowed with the same performances as a timekeeper in the "2000 series". This year, its design has been fine-tuned to confirm it even more bly as the symbol of prestige sports watches. This is the model that Tiger Woods wears proudly on a daily basis and in our new advertising campaign. The third line, "Kirium", designed by Jörg Hysek and developed with David Coulthard, features a contemporary, minimalist design along with extremely avant-garde components such as titanium cases, carbon dials or digital and analog movements inspired by the famous TAG Heuer Microsplit Manhattan launched in 1975.
Alongside the "Professional Sports Watches", TAG Heuer has a line of "Legendary Classics" made up of the brand's most prestigious and sporting icons created in the 1930s, 60s and 70s, such as the famous Monaco worn by Steve McQueen, which retains its daring, contemporary design. This is also true of the "Monza" created in the 1930s and distinguished by a cushion-shaped case symbolic of this period. This model was endowed last year with a remarkable chronometer-certified automatic column-wheel chronograph movement, Caliber 36, which measures time to the nearest 1/10th of a second and makes this a truly unique model merging legends and sports with high-end watchmaking. Another timeless icon, the famous "Carrera", was redesigned in 2002 with the help of Jack Heuer, who invented it in 1964. "We have fitted it with an automatic chronograph movement, Caliber 17, and redesigned the case and dial whileFASTER THAN THE MARKET
Having decided to develop the brand faster than the market, Jean-Christophe Babin, his watchmakers and his team of designers headed by Ross Lovegrove, are working simultaneously in several directions.
Innovation. "We constantly offer watches with new functions, new movements and new designs, while bearing in mind their functional and aesthetic roles."
Quality. "We accompany our consumers over the years, partly by modernizing our lines, and also by guaranteeing them total reliability and the possibility of repairing their watches at any time, to the point of keeping 5 million spare parts from former models in our customer care service centers."
Legitimacy. "We are building on a b history of 143 years of innovations and on our watchmaking knowhow to develop new products which in turn enrich the history of horology to which TAG Heuer has made significant contributions since 1860."
Communication. "From Fangio to Tiger Woods, we have always steered the same course, that of prestige, performance and passion, now expressed through the "What are you made of?" advertising campaign."THE DREAM OF TOP SPORTS PERSONALITIES
TAG Heuer ambassadors, such as Marion Jones, Tiger Woods or David Coulthard, are all involved in the creation of new models. "We choose top-flight sports personalities and we ask them to imagine a dream watch but which they can't yet find on the market. Their dream is then "spelled out" in technical and aesthetic terms by our watchmakers and designers who translate these specifications into a unique and timeless watch: that is how things went for the Kirium Ti5 developed with McLaren-Mercedes, the F1 Micrograph developed with David Coulthard, and the Link Caliber 36 developed with Nick Dougherty, and more recently, Tiger Woods. These champions are extremely demanding and the watches they dream of and lead us to design are particularly tailored for sport. Prestige sports enthusiasts naturally covet three models, inspired by sport and for sport", explains Jean-Christophe Babin.TIGER WOODS AND GOLF AS A NEW SOURCE OF SPORTING INSPIRATION FOR TAG HEUER
The latest member of the team of TAG Heuer ambassadors is world no. 1 golfer Tiger Woods. Why Tiger Woods?
Because Tiger Woods and TAG Heuer are leaders in their respective professions and share several core values. Beyond the realm of golf, Tiger Woods is one of the greatest sports champions of all time. Through his style and his results, he is the perfect illustration of the key increasing its water-resistance to 50 meters, thanks to a scratch-resistant sapphire crystal. The new Carrera thus boasts all the qualities of a contemporary high-end automatic chronograph, while losing nothing of the original spirit of this mythical watch worn by most Formula 1 racing-drivers in the 1970s", explains Jean- Christophe Babin.
These products are not mere replicas, but genuine reinterpretations of the brand's emblematic products. Indeed, great brands are built on icons; they are a reflection of history and a proof of timelessness.
Finally, our "Feminine Series". In conjunction with Roberto Ventrella, we have developed a TAG Heuer watch that pays tribute to women of character and is exclusively dedicated to them: "Alter Ego". Alter Ego is the expression of the strength and beauty of the woman for whom it was designed; this strength and beauty are conveyed through the subtle association of a bracelet with resolutely taut lines which blends seamlessly into a curving, round and very sensual case distinguished by its famous windingcrown positioned at 4 o'clock. Nonetheless, it remains water-resistant to 100 meters, as one would expect from a sports watch.
In parallel, we offer ladies versions of the "Link" and "2000" lines, with extremely creative interpretations featuring dials and bracelets that may be adorned in mother-of-pearl and diamonds to pay tribute to the nobility and grace of sport and of femininity. The 2000 automatic with its pale blue guilloche dial worn by Marion Jones and Ines Sastre is a perfect illustration of this approach.
TAG Heuer values. He is the embodiment of performance, integrity and the competitive spirit. These assets make him the ideal ambassador for TAG Heuer and a marvelous source of inspiration for the brand's master-watchmakers who find themselves confronted with new challenges!
"The priority in 2003 is to focus on our partnership with Tiger Woods and to cooperate with him in developing a watch dedicated to golf and to its specific characteristics in terms of time measurement and performance."
Tiger Woods and golf in general are thus becoming the second pillar of TAG Heuer's sporting inspiration, alongside Formula 1 motor-racing, for which the brand has been Official Timekeeper since 1992, after making its debut in the sport with Swiss driver Jo Siffert in 1969 and continuing in the 1970s with the Scuderia Ferrari and its legendary drivers such as Niki Lauda, Clay Regazzoni or Gilles Villeneuve. TAG Heuer was also Official Timekeeper for the World Alpine Skiing Championships at St. Moritz in 2003, as well as one of the major protagonists in the famous Louis Vuitton Cup, having supplied the official chronograph to the Oracle-BMW crew who were finalists in this prestigious competition alongside the Swiss challenge, Alinghi.
For TAG Heuer, sport is a genuine source of inspiration from which we draw our ideas and our watchmaking innovations. It defines the brand territory and contributes to the uniqueness and prestige of our models.A SELECTIVE AND EXCLUSIVE DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY
Prestige and performance are two constant factors that are also clearly apparent in terms of distribution. "We had more than 8,000 retailers worldwide in 1999 compared with only 5,600 in 2003, despite opening new markets such as China, India and Russia, and while continuing to achieve steady growth in turnover. We want both a high-quality environment and a total commitment to TAG Heuer", emphasises Jean-Christophe Babin. "In parallel, TAG Heuer is continuing to assert itself through a network of some fifteen exclusive boutiques intended to reinforce the brand values and style in strategic cities on five continents (London, Sydney, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, New York, Tokyo, Beijing, Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangkok, Dubai...). The brand also has a traveling boutique located in the Paddock Clubs of Formula 1 Grand Prix racing circuits, which visits fifteen countries each year for three days at a time, offering a range of exclusive products to a select clientele.INTERVIEW WITH CHRISTIAN WEISSBACH
TAG Heuer President / China TAG Heuer enters the Chinese market (July 2002)China's newly acquired membership in the WTO and the growth in its economy have created an increasingly favorable climate for the consumption of luxury goods products. The watch market is developing fast; consumers long accustomed to traditional brands are now seeking diversity and have become more demanding.
TAG Heuer thus decided to launch into this promising market in July 2002. As the world's premier prestigious sports brand, TAG Heuer will be able to capitalize on the steadily increasing value of sport in China. Shanghai will be opening its Formula 1 racing track to competition as of 2004 and Beijing is already preparing to host the Olympic Games in 2008.Opening of the TAG Heuer boutique in Beijing (October 2002).
The distribution network will be highly selective and will focus on the major cities: a first franchise boutique was opened in Beijing in October 2002 in the Wang Fu Xing pedestrian street and the presence of TAG Heuer in these points of sale will need to be very visible. Corners are already installed in more than 50% of points of sale opened thus far.
TAG Heuer has decided to make China a priority market and communication investments will be on a par with these ambitions. TAG Heuer already has a number of key assets in addition to the specific field of its rich sporting heritage, including the support of local celebrities such as Zhang Ziyi who starred in the Oscar-winning film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and more recently in "The Hero".
TAG Heuer has also invested in customer care centers with a central service center in Beijing.Tribune des Arts - Numero special TAG Heuer - avril 2003
[Rating: 5 / 5 stars]
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