TAG Heuer – The Autavia Cup

By Harlan Chapman-Green

There is an inherent issue with most consumer markets as a whole nowadays. Companies can do what they like and offer the end product to consumers for one year until its replaced by a newer iteration the following year. While it doesn’t concern most people, some others will be saddened by the fact that the company didn’t seem to do its best job of it either, what’s even worse is that the consumers are then stuck with it for a year. Let’s take the ever advancing world of mobile phones for instance; while Samsung’s Galaxy S6 was a pretty good all around phone, reviewers and customers were annoyed by the fact that it lacked a couple features from the Galaxy S5, namely water resistance, expandable storage and a removable battery. While the S7 does rectify two of the three problems (a sealed design means no more battery switcheroos), it would’ve been better if we’d had the choice of what features we wanted to see return.

TAG Heuer | The Autavia Cup Trailer

TAG Heuer is doing its best to rectify this issue with The Autavia Cup. It’s not a sporting event, such as a boat race, that’s been organised and sponsored by TAG Heuer. Instead, they’ve opened up the floor to the audience and given us the choice of which vintage watch will return for the 2017 business year. Each watch has been updated and brought back to life by Paul Gavin of Heuer World, each version brings back some of the glamour of the past and there’s sixteen in total to choose from. I should note though that if you were expecting there to be 16 completely different designs from the Heuer days then you will be sadly mistaken, however, there are some subtle and not-so-subtle differences in the designs, let’s take a look at the 16 entrants:

12825130_995055947208235_156103026_n

1. 1962 Mark 1 “Big Sub” Autavia 12 Lume Hands Ref. 2446

12834602_995056087208221_304392294_n

2. 1962 Mark 1 “Big Sub” Autavia 12 Steel Edge Hands Ref. 2446

10584354_995056330541530_1973187677_n

3. 1962 Mark 1 “Big Sub” Autavia 30 Lume Hands Ref. 3646

10578709_995056750541488_657052276_n

4. 1962 Mark 1 “Big Sub” Autavia 45 Steel Edge Hands Ref. 3646

11793284_995057067208123_1927026437_n

5. 1964 Mark 2 Autavia Ref. 2446

12834920_995060380541125_1418751065_n

6. 1966 Mark 3 “Rindt” Autavia Ref. 2446

10660925_995060567207773_971179681_n

7. 1966 Mark 3 “Andretti” Autavia Ref. 3646

12835048_995061053874391_587464132_n

8. Late 60s “Tachymeter Dial” Autavia 12 Ref. 2446

12825306_995061443874352_1111704799_n

9. Late 60s “Tachymeter Dial” Autavia 30 Ref. 3646

12825499_995061860540977_1118509350_n

10. 1968 Autavia 12 Lume Hands Ref. 2446

12833453_995062013874295_1464329267_n

11. 1968 “Compression Case” Autavia 12 Ref. 2446C

12336288_995062093874287_436189628_n

12. 1968 “Compression Case” Autavia 12 Silver Dial Ref. 2446C SN

12834776_995062223874274_1515078117_n

13. New Edition Mark 3 “Rindt” Autavia Panda Dial Ref. 2446

10647859_995062377207592_122760734_n

14. New Edition Mark 1 “Big Sub” Autavia 12 Blackout Dial Lume Hands Ref. 2446

12834988_995062563874240_515553901_n

15. New Edition Mark 1 “Big Sub” Autavia 12 Panda Dial Steel Edge Hands Ref. 446

12825335_995062883874208_433239164_n

16. New Edition Mark 1 “Big Sub” Autavia 30 Panda Dial Lume Hands Ref. 3646

The two I’d like to see the most are Number 11 (Compression Case Ref. 2446C) and Number 14 (Big Sub Blackout Ref.2446). The microsite will open up to voters on the 17th of March, you’ve got to vote if you want to see your favourite be made! For more info, please visit tagheuer.com & autaviacup.com

bio

HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN – MANAGING EDITOR

A keen bass guitar player, Harlan enjoys all the perks modern watchmaking technologies the industry has to offer. Although you might catch him sampling Omegas or the “odd” Rolex, Harlan loves all things Haute Horology, with his three favourite brands being Breguet, A.Lange & Söhne and Vacheron Constantin. He hopes to study timekeeping more in depth someday and will never be able to thank his father enough for introducing him to the industry. You can follow him on Instagram Read his articles here