A Brief Overview of TAG Heuer Watches

For over 144 years, TAG Heuer has established the prestigious reputation of manufacturing chronographs capable of measuring time with the highest precision while at the same time being more “avante-garde” than other Swiss watch manufacturers.

With such levels of accuracy in time measurement, it is no surprise that TAG Heuer is the timekeeping instrument of choice at many sporting events. Most of the collections have taken the names of sports cars and professional motorsports events.

In 1916 TAG Heuer created the first mechanical timekeeping instrument capable of measuring 1/100th of a second. In 1966 they created the first “compact” electronic device capable of measuring 1/1000th of a second.

In 2004 the company’s involvement with motorsports resulted in the release of a brand new movement which replaced the toothed wheels in the movement with miniature toothed belts, creating a brand new concept watch – the Monaco V4. Another highly coveted model is the SLR Chronograph with its regulator dial designed after the Mercedes Benz SLR McLaren. Unfortunately, if you want to buy a new SLR Chronograph you will have to buy the car first!

TAG Heuer has effectively combined the two elements of precision and style in all of their collections, both old and new. The newest collections include the TAG Heuer 2000 which includes the popular Aquagraph and Aquaracer models, TAG Heuer Kirium and the TAG Heuer Link collection – which have been greatly influenced by one of TAG’s newest celebrity ambassadors, Tiger Woods. Some of the most popular watches in the TAG Heuer Classic collections include the Monza, Carrera, Targa Florio and Monaco.

Most TAG Heuer watches are built with ETA Automatic Swiss Movements – one of the most popular base movements is the ETA 2894-2 (for the watch enthusiast geek audience) which is also used in Omega Speedmasters, the Chopard Mille Miglia chronograph, Ulysse Nardin Marine Chronograph and several other high-end Swiss watches. List prices for the automatic models tend to range between $2,000 and $3,000. Lately, TAG has been bowing to the growing trend of quartz watch movements and these models usually list between $1,000 and $2,000.

If you are a big TAG Heuer fan or want to get a really special watch for someone special, you might want to consider getting a Limited Edition model. Every year TAG Heuer produces several different models in limited numbers. For example, they recently produced the TAG Heuer Carrera Chronograph Limited Edition 1964 with the engraved signature of Jack W. Heuer on the caseback, commemorating 40 years of one of the most popular TAG Heuer watches.

Jay Steele is a watch enthusiast and author of the popular website Your Guide to Watches ([http://www.your-guide-to-watches.com]) which was born out of his passion for watches. It provides guides and reviews for many watch brands – including TAG Heuer watches.