By Meor Amri Meor Ayob
TAG Heuer launched a very important watch for the Company in Baselworld2015, the Carrera Calibre Heuer 01. With the launch of this watch, TAG Heure will be focusing on three key areas; that could well put the Company on a new growth path.
The Carrera Calibre Heuer 01, a sport chronograph, has recorded a number of firsts for the company. The first is the introduction of a new automatic movement.
This new model is powered by TAG Heuer Calibre Heuer-01. Developed from the Calibre 1887, the new movement has 39 jewels and 50 hours power reserve. At the point of writing, apart for some form of cosmetic changes, key differences between Calibre Heuer-01 and the Calibre 1887 remain to be seen.
The next interesting development is the new case design. From an evolution viewpoint, this current model has very little DNA from the Carreras of yesteryears. Instead of being made from a solid block of stainless steel, TAG Heuer has decided to use a difference manufacturing technique – the modular concept. This watch’s 45 mm casing is made out of stainless steel and titanium from 12 different components. For example, the lugs are not part of the main casing.
TAG Heuer is not the first to do this. The Japanese manufactures have been using this technique for years. However, by deciding to go in this direction, the flexibility of manufacturing becomes much higher. This will allow the Company to introduce many variations fast and at the lowest cost possible.
From the second photo below, you can see the various screws that bind the various sections together.
The Carrera Calibre Heuer 01 has a skeleton dial. There are three sub-dials: the Chronograph minute counter at 12 o’clock; the Chronograph hour counter at 6 o’clock; and the seconds counter at 9 o’clock. The main hour markers have white and red Super Luminova combination paint, while part of the hands are painted with white Super Luminova. All the Chronograph hands are painted in red.
The crown and two chronograph pushers are located on right of the watch casing. The black painted titanium bezel has a tachymeter scale. Both the front and back of the watch are protected by sapphire crystals. The water rating for this watch is 100 meters.
The third and most important change is pricing. This model has been touted to retail at a level that is at similar levels to existing models. Couple with the recent announcement by the Company of a general re-pricing of its watches downwards bodes well for this brand. In the 1990s, TAG Heuer was considered the best value-for-money Swiss brand but since then prices have gone skywards which has alienated a lot of its fans.
Price should never be equated to quality products. Look at the Japanese, they did it with cars and they also did it for watches. There are lessons to be learned.
In this regard, TAG Heuer has taken the initiative to do just that. This in itself will attract new legions of fans and could put the Company to new growth path. For more info, please visit tagheuer.com
Meor Amri Meor Ayob – Contributing Editor
Meor Amri is a passionate watch collector from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Having bitten by the horology bug in 2010, he has written extensively about the watch scene and has assembled a large collection of watches (excessively!!!) on his own free time. His blogs on the same subject are: Eastern Watch & Western Watch Read his articles here.
