Tag Heuer Finally Makes The Monaco V4 Watch, And Offers The First for Charity At the “Only Watch” Auction

It was 2004 when Tag Heuer first announced the Monaco V4 concept watch. What was unique was the movement and the automatic winding mechanism. Complications merely included the time and a dial that was open-worked (as part of the movement). The Monaco V4 concept watch was the first ever “belt driven” movement – and is still the only such movement to operate in the way it does. It is gimmicky sure, but it looks very cool, and still images don’t really do it justice. Another unique aspect of the watch it’s the automatic winding system. Instead of having a rotor that oscillates, it has a weight that moves in a linear fashion up and down – just like a piston almost. That movement acts to move gears that wind the mainspring. I don’t know exactly how elegant it looks in reality, but it is certainly a very interesting concept, and now reality. Continue Reading… »

TAG Heuer Monaco 24 Concept Chronograph: A Watch That’s Worth The Wait!

For aficionados of fine timepieces, its impossible not to admire the expansive strides TAG Heuer has made in the luxury watch arena.    Quality and innovation just keep getting better and better, and its very clear the brand wants to be taken seriously as a leading player in the  luxury-sport category.  An exhibit that grabbed my collar hard at Baselworld 2009 in March was their race car inspired Monaco 24 Concept Chronograph. Continue Reading… »

TAG Heuer Grand Carrera RS: Keeping TAG Heuer In The Luxury Sport Watch Spotlight

Not content to rest on its well-established laurels as a maker of desirable sports timepieces, TAG Heuer has given watch enthusiasts even more reason to pay attention to the “Carrera” moniker.  Like the race cars they are inspired by, the TAG Heuer Grand Carrera RS watch collection takes off with a bold combination of sophisticated finish, state of the art watchmaking technique, and subtly updated styling that still retains timelessly pleasing lines.  For me, these are perhaps the best timepieces that TAG Heuer has made to date. Continue Reading… »

TAG Heuer Watches Help Free Diver Tanya Streeter Set World Records

TAG Heuer has a pretty impressive roster of celebrity athlete ambassadors. From tennis phenom Maria Sharapova, to golf’s superstar Tiger Woods, TAG Heuer watches  occupy some very prime wrist real estate.

One TAG Heuer ambassador you probably haven’t heard as much about, is intrepid free diver Tanya Streeter, who has set or smashed many world records (often set by herself to start with) in the dangerous sport of free diving, also known as competitive apnea–where individuals descend to great depths without the aid of any supplementary oxygen.  In addition to setting many world records for women free divers, Tanya has even surpassed men’s records Continue Reading… »

TAG Heuer Microtimer Chronograph – Graduation Gift Idea

For a graduate who is a little bit tech, but still has style, try this TAG Heuer Microtimer Chronograph watch. This stainless steel watch is loaded with functions like 1/1000th of a second measuring precision chronograph, dual time zone, Formula 1 mode, and a standby mode to preserve battery life – impressive enough for the cool nerd side of every graduate. Add to the technical side, the aesthetic and sporty side with a polished stainless steel case, black digital display and rubber strap and here’s a winner! Continue Reading… »

TAG Heuer MERIDIIST Mobile Phone: High Luxury, Stylish Communication

Look out, Vertu!

The TAG Heuer MERIDIIST represents the Swiss watchmaker’s entrance into the world of exclusive, high luxury communication devices. The MERIDIIST is crafted from 316L stainless steel–the same material employed in the creation of TAG Heuer’s watches.

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TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Caliper Chronograph Has Exotic GT Car Appeal

Sports watch enthusiasts should be pleased with the exciting products that TAG Heuer is showing us this year. The Carrera collection in particular is proving to be a veritable pool of inspiration, with TAG Heuer taking the classic collection to new places where dynamic, ultra-sporty aesthetics interact with sophisticated mechanisms.

I find the new TAG Heuer Grand Carrera 36 RS Caliper Concept Chronograph to be an extremely appealing watch, with a fantastic mix of pure sports-bred details. Greatly influenced by the design of high-performance GT cars, the Caliper Concept Chronograph is technically substantial too, with its high frequency (36,000 vph) self-winding movement which can time intervals to 1/10 of a second, and show the breakdown by means of a unique, precisely graduated rotating scale around the edge of the intricately crafted dial.

The aesthetics of this watch are beyond cool. The chronograph displays are captivating in their intricacy and unique operation–having a rotating disc to indicate elapsed time, rather than the typical hand. The linear second indicator at 9 o’clock is something that is extremely neat as well, and looks like something right off of an automobile’s instrumentation cluster. The automotive elements can be found in many aspects of the case design as well, including the chronograph pushers, whose shape and serrated surface texture calls to mind finely machined pedals.

TAG Heuer Aquagraph watch: Uncompromising Diver’s Tool

The dive watch is certainly one of the most popular genres within the mechanical watch realm.  Collectors and enthusiasts really enjoy the super water resistance and durability of these timepieces—much like a Hummer H1, or a Mercedes-Benz Geländewagen, you might never need the capabilities these watches offer, but its nice to know that your watch can likely survive the kind of harrowing ordeals that you may not be able to. 

One of the most functional and purpose-built luxury dive timepieces made today is the TAG Heuer Aquagraph watch.  Unlike some so-called dive watches which seem to concede more to fashion than function, this TAG Heuer watch was created to be a professionals instrument, first and foremost.  Not only is the watch equipped with a screw-locked back and screw-down crown that permits it to be water resistant to 500 meters, it also offers a chronograph function that is fully operable underwater to the full warranted depth.  This rare detail is noteworthy, and to go along, the chronograph has been modified specifically to offer a diver real utility; instead of a tiny, hard-to-read subdial, this elapsed minutes function is shown via a clever centrally mounted triangle-tipped luminous hand that makes it super easy to read off those critical minutes.   The unidirectional bezel is also designed in an uncompromising way; the “Autolock” mechanism ensures that it won’t move unless the diver specifically intends it to do so.  Visibility–absolutely essential for a diver’s instrument–is also outstanding. 

I think the Aquagraph watch is one of the finest wrist instruments TAG Heuer has come up with yet, and that’s saying something, as this brand has devoted itself to the sports watch for a long time.  Whether you like it for its cool technical features, its attractive instrumental design, or because you need an uncompromising dive tool, the TAG Heuer Aquagraph watch should serve you well.

Tag Heuer Monaco Automatic –

Quartz or Mechanical? Have both–buy a TAG Heuer Monaco Sixty Nine!

Ordinarily, quartz and mechanical watches would seem to be diametrically opposed entities, with perhaps the same being said of their respective buyers. Collectors of mechanical watches pride themselves on purchasing craftsmanship and heritage, while quartz enthusiasts point out that their chosen watches perform with superior accuracy, and have loads of additional functions, all without the need for expensive servicing. Fortunately, the TAG Heuer Monaco Sixty Nine watch is no ordinary timepiece, so we may all just may be able to live up to Rodney King’s famous rhetorical question, after all.

I got to handle the Sixty Nine watch about a month ago, and I have to say, it has some of the highest “cool factor” of any watch I’ve seen. Imagine if you will, a battery-powered quartz movement and a hand-wound mechanical movement, both in a single watch, giving you two distinct personalities and uniting both the 19th and 21st centuries simultaneously. Whether you feel like a Luddite or George Jetson, any conflicts can be resolved by pivoting the case around. The case alone is almost a toy worthy of having, even if it didn’t have any movement(s) in it–the craftsmanship is superb, and epitomizes the concept of “precision manufacturing”. Likewise, the finish is impeccable, exuding luxury definitively.

Both sides of the TAG Heuer Monaco Sixty Nine look great. The mechanical side has all the sporty elegance of the classic Monaco watch, with those applied hour markers, and a seconds subdial; I enjoy the fact that the mechanical movement in this watch is as purist as it gets, and requires you to manually wind it. Going 180 degrees (literally and figuratively), the opposite side of the watch looks like something from way into the future, with a super-neat digital display that offers you a multi-function chronograph accurate to a staggering 1/1000th of a second, plus calendar and dual-time indications–all powered by cutting edge TAG Heuer proprietary quartz technology. Irresistible horological irony!