TAG Heuer does not get the credit that they deserve!

[icoopernicus]

I know it can't be just me and I guess this was sort of discussed in another thread a few months ago posing the question - Your thoughts on TAG Heuer as a brand? Well I have a new question, Why does Rolex get tons of credit for their parachrom hairspring while the watch world questions the validity of TAG Heuer as a brand. Sure, they made Quartz watches... still do, but so do Breitling and Omega. They use ETA based movements in a lot of watches, Breitling, IWC, Omega would never do that though?????? TAG Heuer spends lots of Cash on advertising and sponsorship - Kind of like any big brand in the watch world. And while watch snobs look down their collective noses at TAG Heuer they are busy doing this...

Okay, Okay, Anyone can make an ultra high beat movement that beats at 7,200,000bph, they're already close with 28,800bph, yep, close enough!

But I guess that's all that TAG Heuer has done recently.....

What does Pendulum mean? does it mean that TAG Heuer has successfully created the first watch in history to be regulated without a hairspring, can't be.

Now they went ahead and created a Twin Tourbillon 1/100th Chronograph and instead of stopping there they went ahead and....

regulated both Tourbillon with their pendulum magnetic oscillator. 

Have I seriously overlooked something or can the conversation shift toward why TAG Heuer is the most innovative Watch builder in the business?

Discuss, Ha! 

 

 

 

[nikki6]

I love my Tags, got 3 gens and about 7 reps of theirs. I think some of the movements they make are incredible! The belt driven movement was a work of art, never mind innovation! Not to forget the Calibre 36, again a stunning feat in my opinion!

I've always loved Tags and my love for them hasn't diminished in the slightest, even though I can't stand tourbullions on a watch. The new mikrotimer sounds so nice!!

Sixx.

[icoopernicus]

Oh man Sixx, I forgot all about the Monaco V4

This is the V4 for anyone who is not familliar

 

[fraggle42]

I know a lot of these "complications" are just willy waving by the various companies trying to out-do each other.

 

And I think the world is a better place because of it!!

 

Who needs it? No one! Does it make sense to design and create them? Of course not! Do we want them? To bloody right we do!!

[loupeso]

I just had this conversation last week . I was in my local starbucks and a guy ahead of me had a monaco on that didn't look like a monaco . I asked him is that a monaco  and smiled and said "wow your the first to guess it" as it was a V4 that was given to him as a gift by his boss . It is a amazing piece ! 

[jpz5142]

I have a gen Link Chrono and love it, I would love to get a cal 36. Tag definately is pushing boundaries with some of their latest watches. Meanwhile rolex is just releasing a new bezel color... (which I do like btw)

[tomhorn]

My first automatic was a Classic 2000. Nothing nearly as fancy as the above, but a solid watch that still get a lot of wrist time.

 

 

[SSTEEL]

Tag Heuer have come along way in their time, and todays standards of their watches is on par with many more of top bunch of brands.  I feel though that Tags reputation maybe blinkered by many who first spotted the early TAG's, and wrote them off thinking they were below par, but how wrong they are.  I love the TAG brand personally.

[icoopernicus]

I definitely agree that they marred their own image with the direction they took in the 80's and 90's. The Carrera Day Date was the watch that made me fall in love with TAG Heuer, even though it uses the Calibre 16 (Valjoux 7750) which is a perfectly acceptable movement for a mid range watch, the design of all the Carrera chronographs is just stunning IMHO. This is a watch that I absolutely love to strap onto my wrist and I can spend all day looking down at. 

[sgtguk]

Gotta say although I'm a rollie whore I do love Tag's     there I confessed !

 

I have only bought one rep I think and that was a Carrera Qtz, nice piece thats gone now but the Gens are awesome   I really like the New Aquaracer Ceramic which is on my wishlist atm, I had a Link Grand Date which I sold and miss now too, had the most comfy bracelet ever (bar smp)   only one I have atm is a modded Aquaracer 500M which is a great looking piece with lume to die for since Vac gave it some Tlc 

 

YES I LOVE TAG TOO          

 

Link

 

 

500M

 

 

Ceramic

http://calibre11.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/AQUARACER-500M_WAK2110.jpg

 

Great marketing too 

http://baselworld.tagheuer.com/uploads/homestrategallerie/e4500d9babdd4f110e351039dde5b8e080e1fca6.mp4

[icoopernicus]

Absolutely love that Grand Date Link, beautiful watch!

[automatico]

I like TAG Heuer watches too, but only the simple non chronograph Eta 955.xxx quartz models that cause almost Zero trouble over the years. I wear one a lot that was made in the late 1980s...a 'TAG 1000' (980.028N). I have written a couple notes about it before...paid $40 for it and fixed it up, now a little over $100 etc. Have the same watch in an automatic that is waiting for c/o and another watch that is almost the same as the quartz TAG 1000...a Zodiac 'Red Point' from the 1990s when TAG Heuer owned Zodiac for a while.

 

What I like best about TAG Heuer is you can find them cheap in average condition and it costs very little to get one back in tip top shape, especially since ST and Clark's have case tubes and crowns for them. They are thinner and not as big in diameter as today's 'Super Sized' dive watches and you do not feel like you are wearing a 'Big Mac' on your wrist.

Also have a couple 'Aquaracers' and a 'Link' but still like the older models best. The Link is between a dive watch and a dress watch (dressy diver?) with a 200 meter rating, sapphire crystal, rotating bezel etc but with a dress style clasp...no diver extension, quicky bracelet adjustment or anything.

 

I used to wear quartz Seiko dive style watches a lot but it seems (to me) that Seiko has lost its way. They do not have many simple low profile dive style watches that appeal to me anymore...mostly just Flash! Bang! Whoppers now like everyone else.  

 

Why am I bragging on quartz watches, especially the Rodney Dangerfield of swiss watches...TAG Heuer?

Because I trade and work on mechanical watches but can not stand to wear the expen$ive!, no parts 4U!, fragile!, little sobs very much.

 

The Parachrom Blu hairspring is no match for a quartz oscillator.    

[fraggle42]

Most of you will probably know Tag do a lot of HiFi gear as well. Tag McLaren kit.

 

I've got one of their AV32R processors sitting in a box at home. It's extremely well made, heavy, strong, solid control and volumn [censored]s milled out of solid blocks of alloy.

 

They do finish these control [censored]s to a gloss finish, so they look glossy and grey. Like plastic.

 

Before I got my AV32R I was at a HiFi show in Bristol, UK, with my nephew. Tag McLaren had a large demo room there which we were looking round. I spotted the range of AV kit including the AV32R and joked to my nephew that it was that expensive they made their alloy [censored]s with that much care they looked like plastic!

 

Oh how we laughed.

 

And then turned around to carry on looking round.

 

And stood very close behind us was Dr Udo Zucker.

 

http://www.malcolmsteward.co.uk/index.php/interviews/dr-udo-zucker-of-tag-mclaren-audio/

 

You know how you wish a giant hole would open up and swallow you?

 

He was very polite, and I did sort of explain my "joke" and said that if they were matt or brushed they wouldn't look so plasticy. And then I left. Rapidly...

[motoman83]

Tag has ripped off the IWC Portuguese, need I say more?

[Cromag]

Thanks for the interesting info OP. I didn't know any of that.

Some watches look like crap a few years down the road. I remember those old 90's Tag's to be that way. Looking at all these nice pics I would tend to think the same about most of them too. Durability and timeless styling are important (no pun intended). Most of these look too busy to me. I think Tag is trying to overcome all of this as a brand. I look at them as the Volkswagen Toureg instead of the Porsche Cayenne. JMHO since your asking.

(Asbestos underwear on)

[lhooq]

Tag has ripped off the IWC Portuguese, need I say more?

 

Would be nice if you did.  Which TAG model rips off the Portuguese?

[Mike on a bike]

Here we go!

[icoopernicus]

In the market for a diver and hands down the new 500m has won out. I didn't care for the last model but I find this new one has moved away from the trendy styling of the last model. I prefer it to the Seamaster and find the looks more appealing than the submariner. There are other divers that share the reasonable price point of the Aquaracer but not it's almost perfect and much more upscale 'dress diver' looks. While I agree that Tag Heuer has produced a venerable cornucopia of hideous trendy watches. (I loath the Formula 1 models for men) they seem to have moved their overall design language in a much more classic direction and these are the pieces that I really like. And the ones that my 'hard earned' money will be spent on.

[motoman83]

Would be nice if you did.  Which TAG model rips off the Portuguese?

Some models in the 1887 line. Not a 1:1 copy mind you, but I still feel the similarity and lack of originality hurts the brand.

*sorry for the picture size, I'm on my phone.

[icoopernicus]

The 1887 is an evolution on the Carrera Chronograph line using an improved movement. Considering the Cal. 16 and Portuguese are both Valjoux 7750 based chronos (IWC is heavily modified) and the Cal. 1887 is a simplification on the Cal. 16 Carrera design then it stands to reason that they would resemble each other; but the Cal. 1887 would never pass as an even vague homage to the Portuguese. Chopping off the numbers at 12 and 6 would be ripping off the portuguese, moving the sub seconds to 6, no date, these could be considered as ripping off the IWC. The Cal. 1887 uses standard Carrera hands which are completely different than the IWC's, it uses the standard Carrera case/pushers/crown which are all different. 

 

Saying that this design is a rip-off of the Portuguese is kind of a stretch, just my opinion. 

[Spiccato]

What I appreciated about TAGHeuer were the SLR models from the late 2000s. They seemed like an extension of the design language
of the Autavia. Really wish they would have made that basic design the basis for newer series...

[lhooq]

Some models in the 1887 line. Not a 1:1 copy mind you, but I still feel the similarity and lack of originality hurts the brand.

*sorry for the picture size, I'm on my phone.

 

Thanks for the comparison pics.  I agree with icoopernicus that "rip-off" is a bit harsh given all the common designs there are between brands, but it's definitely a strong resemblance.  Add some pictures of the Hamilton Jazzmaster, and you get triplets.

 

Re: the OP:  I love old Heuers, but I like TAG-Heuer a lot, too.  Before I was even "into watches", my dream watch was a Cal. 36 TAG Monza.  Would still love to own one.  I think part of of the reason why TAG gets a bad rap is because 1) they were so ubiquitous in the late 80s and early 90s as THE watch to have, 2) as cromag said, designs like the S/el did not age gracefully and 3) the constant advertising got obnoxious (Senna, yes.  Leo "I can't be bothered to actually wear this watch" di Caprio, no thanks.).

 

And I have to say, I like the direction that TAG's headed these days.  I can't say the same for old favorites like Omega and Rolex. 

[Geof3]

Tag is a great brand, always been one of my favs. Heuer has some "firsts" in the industry as well. I also agree that the chrono is a rip off of the IWC is off-base. The only real similarity is the fact they are both chronos with sub dials at 12 and 6...

[motoman83]

The only real similarity is the fact they are both chronos with sub dials at 12 and 6...

...And the dial colors, the colors of the indices and hands, the shape of the case, the font of the numbers is nearly identicle, even the chrono pushers are a variant of the IWC where they flare at the ends (albeit with less flare).

Seriously guys, I really like Tag but I'm not on their payroll so I don't feel the need to defend a pretty obvious design similarity to an existing watch. I know why they did it; the IWC port is absolutely beautiful and surely sells well. This thread is about why Tag doesn't get the credit they deserve and I presented evidence of a reason I believe this to be the case.

On a tangent, a while back I was looking for a high tech diver and was reading reviews on the Citizen Signature perpetual diver. They obviously took design cues from the Aquaracer - which i love. On that forum the diver was being totally flamed; people said it was nice but they wouldn't wear it due to the similarities.

In conclusion, I like Citizen but I'd expect as much from them. Although the 1887 looks good I was really disappointed to see this from Tag.

Cheers guys!

[icoopernicus]

"This thread is about why Tag doesn't get the credit they deserve and I presented evidence of a reason I believe this to be the case."

 

Actually this thread wasn't really about design, it was about innovation in watch building as Tag Heuer gets a lot of flack for their lack of in house movements. while simultaneously pushing the boundaries of watchmaking further than any other watch company today. 

 

Like I have always said, I love a lot of Tag Heuer's watches, the Carrera is among my favourite chronographs at any price range (I'm wearing my 1887 as I type this) and while I see some resemblance to the Portuguese I still would never confuse the two of them. More importantly the design of the case and pushers on the Cal. 1887 is derivative of the original Heuer Carrera from the 60's, if you think the carrera and the Portuguese look the same then the Portuguese is a ripoff of the old Carrera. 

The two carreras are an obvious evolution while to me the Portuguese looks like a completely different watch. 

The closest similarity was the font on the dial of the 43mm Cal 1887. 

 

After my defense of the Carrera I must admit, the IWC Portuguese Chronograph is one of my favourite watches and in the market of restrained elegant chronographs these two are among the best.