TAG Heuer celebrates the release of its Carrera-Heuer 01 chronograph, and its spectacular events include new brand ambassador Tom Brady.Tag Heuer CARRERA CALIBRE 1969. Carrera-Heuer 01 is a landmark watch of TAG Heuer. In addition to manufacturing automatic chronographs at very attractive prices, it is also the main product of the brand’s new CEO Jean-Claude Biver. Recently, conducted a technical discussion with Marc Walti, head of TAG Heuer products, and discussed the movement of Carrera-Heuer 01.
TAG HEUER: The basic movement of the new Caliber Heuer 01 is the 1887 movement. We have the same size and the same function (50 hours power reserve, column wheel, balance pinion, chronograph function …), but the aesthetics have been completely redone:
On the side of the dial, we can see the hollow date dial and the hollow “quantième” dial. The surface has been finely matte and black PVD treated because now we can see its movement (installed in the new CARRERA Heuer 01 Chronograph).
On the other side, we have a new hammer shape that reminds (your) car (steering) wheel, which is now 360 ° with “Geneva Ripple” finishing and black PVD treatment. The main axle is more open than the 1887 movement, the cylindrical wheel is red, which is more suitable for the spirit and DNA of TAG Heuer.
Why is the winding rotor shaped like a complete circle?
TAG Heuer is always a combination of design and technology. In this particular case, this is more a design requirement than a technical aspect.
Watch the inside story: the new movement launched by TAG Heuer, movement 1969, movement
TAG Heuer launched the Calibre 1887 movement in 2009 based on Seiko ’s vintage chronograph movement (and made its debut in TAG Heuer Carrera 1887 TAG Heuer Carrera). It was partially redesigned by TAG Heuer and then produced in Switzerland by TAG (TAG). The integrated self-winding column wheel chronograph movement is equipped with a modern version of the brand’s patented swing pinion in 1887.
Now, the brand is taking the next step to industrialize its first 100% internally produced chronograph movement. The ambitious goal is to double the TAG Heuer’s movement manufacturing capacity and make the company the number one chronograph movement manufacturer among Swiss watch brands.
TAG Heuer stated that the quality of its manufacturing movements is a direct result of the main lessons learned from the production of its 1887 movement and the design and production of several other award-winning advanced watch movements.
These are some technical specifications of the new movement: vertical clutch system; 28,800 vph (4 Hz); 70-hour power reserve; time adjustment difference after 24 hours-4 to +6 seconds. The movement is very thin (only 6.5 mm) and can accommodate 233 Swiss-made parts.
The product was delivered by Atokalpa, a Swiss Parmigiani group, and the four-spoke balance was automatically adjusted by KIF.
The counter layout of the dial is the same as the original Calibre 11, which is a classic “tri-comax”: the central chronograph hand, the chronograph is displayed at 3 o’clock, the chronograph is displayed at 9 o’clock, and the second hand is at 6 o’clock display.
The 1969 movement had a date window at 9 o’clock. Decorations include Geneva corrugations and black nail engravings, tungsten pendulums, minute bridges and automatic bridges, which are nickel-plated and angle-polished, with shiny beveled edges. Bridges, dials and ébauches (incomplete watch movements) are all produced in Chevenez in the Swiss Canton of Jura.
TAG Heuer ensured its steady growth as a chronograph manufacturer by increasing the manufacturing capacity of the 1887 movement and the 1969 movement. By 2013, the total output of these two movements will exceed 50,000 units, and plans to reach the target production capacity of 100,000 units in 2016.
Why is this important? It makes TAG Heuer one of the largest industrial chronograph manufacturers among all Swiss watch brands and is one of the very few Swiss watch companies capable of producing almost all major parts, including not only movements but also Dial and case.
Launched “Real” TAG Heuer Carrera CH80
A few months ago, TAG Heuer launched a brand new internal movement 1969. Obviously, the 2014 Basel International Watch and Jewelry Show will be the place where TAG Heuer launches a new watch with this movement. The brand did launch a very good Carrera CH80, a retro-style Carrera inspired by the earliest 1960s version. What we didn’t expect is that the CH80 launched by Basel is not actually the final version, and some small and important changes are planned. Therefore, we partnered with David, a friend of the famous TAG Heuer online magazine Calibre 11, to introduce you to the “real” Carrera CH80.
The first question you may ask is, why did you choose “Calibre CH80” instead of “Calibre 1969”? TAG Heuer officially made some (smaller) changes to the actions between its statement and the official release at Baselworld. One of them is its power reserve. “1969” is the code name of the movement in the development stage, “CH80” refers to the 80-hour power of the final version of the movement (originally 70 hours in the “1969” stage). We can guess that another reason for the name change is related to the group strategy, because CH80 will definitely be delivered to the TAG Heuer sister brand in the LVMH group (the latter also owns Chaumet, Zenith, Hublot and Bulgari). The “1969” quote is too specific for the history of TAG Heuer. In any case, the new CH80 is a modern movement.
The TAG Heuer Carrera launched at the 2014 Basel International Watch and Jewellery Show is a tribute to the old Carreras (especially referees) of the 1960s. 2447. There are two versions of the dial, black and white sub-dial, white and black sub-dial-basically all reprints of the famous “Panda” dial of the original model. The Carrera CH80 also follows the miniaturization trend we noticed at the Basel International Watch and Jewellery Show this year. For example, the typical Carrera design has a reasonable diameter of 41 mm. This “prototype” features pulsating scales around the dial, various red details on the crown, dial, hands and logo. These details are one of the most likely elements to change.
TAG Heuer insider David told us that based on the “behind the scenes” information (including inferences and wishes) he obtained, some changes will be made before the new Carrera CH80 is released:
• Tachometer scale around the dial instead of pulsating scale
• Crown, logo and dial hands are not red
Embellishment • The design of the sub-dial is different, with a complete “azimuth” and deeper depth
Like this, the CH80 is obviously simpler and more “mature”, with no red embellishment, with a vintage speedometer ring, which is more in line with the old model. 2447. Since blue is the new black and is the main trend of the Basel Watch and Jewelry Show in 2014 (just like at the Basel Watch and Clock Show in 2013), we also imagined “Steve McQueen” version.