Tag Heuer – Did You Know

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1. The Company was founded by Edouard Heuer in 1860’s when he opened
his first workshop high up in the Swiss mountains.
2. Edouard Heuer patented his first Chronograph in 1882 and patented
an oscillating pinion which is still used for mechanical
chronographs by major watch makers today.
3. The first Heuer wrist watch was introduced in 1914. They were
adapted from pocket chronographs and developed especially for ladies.
4. The first stop watch accurate to 1/100 of a second was introduced
in 1916 and this was followed very quickly by a more accurate
version to 1/50 second as well as a split second function. (to
record the interval between two contestants).
5. The €Autavia€ was developed in 1933 – a dashboard timer for
automobiles and aviation. The clock could run for 8 days without
being wound.
6. 1935 – 1940 Heuer manufactured chronographs for pilots in the
Luftwaffe – Flieger Chronographs.
7. At the cutting edge of land, sea and air in the 1950’s Heurer was
selling watches for American retailers Abercrombie & Fitch.
The €Auto Graph€ and €Seafareres€ were developed. Special dials with
blue, green and yellow patterns showing high and low tides. Dials
could be used to track the moon, rally drivers could navigate and a
hand that could even be used to count golf scores!.
8. In 1962 Heuer became the first Swiss watch maker in Space. John
Glenn pilot of the Mercury Atlas 6 spacecraft, the first US manned
space flight to orbit the earth wore a Heuer stop watch. It was the
back up clock for the mission and started manually by Glenn 20
seconds into the flight.
9. TAG Heuer was formed in 1985 when TAG (Techniques d’Avant Garde)
acquired Heuer. TAG are manufacturers of high tech items including
ceramic turbo chargers for Formula One cars.
10. In 1999 TAG Heuer accepted a bid from Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton
SA.
11. In 2013 TAG Heuer celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Carrera
( the racing inspired chronograph) this engineering breakthrough is
still a key part if the Tag Heuer range today.
12. Today notable wearers are Barack Obama, Lewis Hamilton, Leonardo
DiCaprio, Tiger Woods, Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz and Maria Sharapova.