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Founded in 1860 by Edourd Heuer and his sons Jules-Edouard and Charles-Auguste, Tag Heuer is an internationally renowned luxury watchmaker that is best known for its sports watches and chronographs. Currently it is a division of the luxury goods conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey (LVMH) which employs 60,000 people.
The company was founded in St-Imier Switzerland and was started as a partnership. Since Edouard had two sons he knew he could continue his small Swiss watch business through his heirs. Also, at the time he did not have the means necessary to start a large-scale company, or corporation. Shortly after in 1882 Edouard Heuer patented his first chronograph. A chronograph is a timepiece with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions. Edouard built his company on ingenuity and innovation. Subsequently in 1887 he patented an ‘oscillating pinion’ that is still used by major watchmakers for mechanical chronographs.
Further expanding the empire, Heuer received a patent for the “Time of Trip” the first dashboard chronograph which was designed for automobiles and aircraft. It had two large hands mounted from the center pinion that said the time of day like a traditional clock. A smaller pair of hands then were mounted at the top of the dial and indicated the duration of the trip (up to twelve hours). A top mounted crown let the owner set the time, and a button in the crown operated the stop/start/reset functions.
It was patents like those that truly set Heuer apart as a world class watch company going into the early twentieth century. After the “Time of Trip”, Heuer came out with its first chronograph wristwatch in 1914.
Adding to the company’s repertoire was having the distinction of having the first Swiss watchmaker in space when John Glenn piloted the Mercury Atlas 6 spacecraft on the first US space craft to orbit the earth.
Another innovation was Heuer’s patent of the “Micrograph” which was the first stop watch accurate to 1/100 of a second. In the 1960’s Heuer was part of a partnership with fellow watch companies Breitling and Hamilton in the hopes of creating the world’s first automatic chronograph. Finally in 1969 Heuer-Breitling-Hamilton held an opulent press conference in New York and Geneva introducing the Carrera, Monaco, and Autavia automatic chronographs to the market.
Tag Heuer garnered further notoriety when their chronographs were associated with car racing and specific famous drivers. Steve McQueen wore a blue Monaco chronograph in the 1971 movie Le Mans, and Swiss Formula One racer Jo Siffert wore a white-tailed Autavia with black registers.
From Heuer to TAG Heuer • TAG Heuer was formed in 1985 when TAG (techniques d’Avant Garde), who were manufacturers of high-tech items like ceramic turbochargers for Formula One race cars, acquired Heuer. • Most recently in 1999 TAG Heuer accepted a bid from the conglomerate LVMH of $739 million based on getting 50.1% of its stocks so it is still autonomous from LVMH.
Being acquired through horizontal merger with the TAG corporation only solidified the corporation’s high-tech portfolio, and now is part of the powerhouse of the LVMH luxury conglomerate, which is based in Paris and is a public limited company, which offers its shares to the public.
Problems?? • Though TAG Heuer has never faltered as an esteemed watchmaker, recently their endorsement of Tiger Woods wasn’t that great for public image so they dropped him.
Through the decades, TAG Heuer has always managed to adapt to changing technology, and consequently has enjoyed tremendous success.
TAG Heuer is known for its luxury status and its strong ties with the sports world and Hollywood. For those that can afford a TAG Heuer watch they make for classic, lasting timepieces that can be kept for generations. Whether providing rugged time pieces for the Italian Air Force or a wristwatch for a driver in the Grand Prix, TAG Heuer always delivers a quality product.
