tag heuer

Steve McQueen's "Little Ferrari" for Sale

The 1953 Siata 208S Spyder (above) that actor Steve McQueen affectionately dubbed his "Little Ferrari" is being offered for sale by California's Fantasy Junction for $1.295 million. The Italian roadster, one of only 35 built, was one of the first foreign sports cars acquired by the King of Cool who came to be famous for his stable of exotic autos. Featured in the 2007 book McQueen's Machines, it was formerly part of the Cars of Steve McQueen exhibition at The Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles.

Bruce Sand, the doctor and former UCLA Medical School student who acquired the car from McQueen, recounts that the actor had removed the Siata's front nose badge, put a Ferrari shield on it, and called it his "Little Ferrari". In addition to a 2.3 Litre 8-cylinder Fiat engine, the car features a very rare set of TAG Heuer racing instruments (watch and stop-watch), which are affixed to the dashboard. Painstakingly restored to perfection with the engine completely rebuilt, the car has won honors at several concours d'elegance.

[via JustLuxe]

Gallery: Steve McQueen's 1953 Siata

Tags: California, convertible, Ferrari, Siata, Steve McQueen, TAG Heuer

Tag Heuer Limited-Edition Anniversary Chest

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets, Timepieces / Watches

Tag Heuer is celebrating its 150th anniversary in many ways, one of which is by offering this limited edition 'coffret' that will be officially unveiled at the Baselworld Watch and Jewelry Show in Switzerland and available for purchase sometime in early April. Only 150 will be made, one for each year Tag Heuer has been in business, and each will come with a limited-edition Grand Carrera Calibre 17 RS2 Chronograph watch and one of their hand-assembled smartphones, the Meridiist. Designed by French master craftsman Fred Pinel, the chests are customizable and prices start at €14,900 (about $20,000).

Source

Tags: cell phone, CellPhone, mobile phone, MobilePhone, tag heuer, TagHeuer, watch

Bonhams Sale Celebrates 150 Years of TAG Heuer

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Auctions, Charity

As we noted in this week's Classicist column, famed Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. To mark the occasion Bonhams will auction the Haslinger Collection of fine and rare Heuer watches on December 15 in London. The museum-quality single owner collection was built up with the aim of representing the very best of Heuer timepieces. Comprising over 100 lots, it includes many of the most iconic models such as the Silverstone, Autavia, Carrera, Daytona and Monaco (above), made famous by Steve McQueen. The watches range in value from £1,500 to £15,000. TAG Heuer have also created a one-off watch especially for this auction. Based on the newly launched Silverstone model, the dial incorporates Jack Heuer's signature. Proceeds from the watch will be donated to the Green Cross International charity. Arno Haslinger will also donate his original Silverstone to be auctioned for this cause and Bonhams will add a further 20% to the hammer price and an additional £5,000 in support of the charity. Prior to arriving in London, a selection of highlights from the collection will be on display as part of the TAG Heuer 150th Anniversary world tour.

Gallery: 150 Years of TAG Heuer at Bonhams

A fine and rare Autavia chronograph. Ref. 2446 M.

Tags: Bonhams, Green Cross International, Heuer, London, Steve McQueen, TAG Heuer

The Classicist: Celebrating TAG Heuer's 150th Anniversary

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Books, The Classicist

Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer celebrates its 150th anniversary making horological history this year, marked by the publication of a brilliant new book by Nick Foulkes from Assouline. TAG Heuer begins in the middle years of the 19th century when a Swiss shoemaker's son called Edouard Heuer made the decision to "turn his life over to the conquest and calibration of the passing hours, minutes, seconds and fractions of seconds; marking their passage with the tiny incremental movements of the blued steel hand of a chronograph against the crisp white enamel dial of the pocket watch." From childhood Edouard was "dazzled by the dream of conquering time and imprisoning it in ever more precise and advanced mechanical timepieces," Foulkes writes. In 1882 Heuer introduced his first chronograph, setting a benchmark for extreme accuracy that continues today, and by the early 20th century he had moved the chronograph from the pocket onto the wrist.

TAG Heuer was the first watchmaker to master chronographs with an unsurpassed precision of 1/10th, 1/100th and 1/1,000th of a second. From the Olympic Games in the 1920s to its role as official timekeeper for the legendary Indy 500 and involvement in actor Steve McQueen's racing film Le Mans, to its quarter-century partnership with Formula 1 team Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, it has a long established connection to the world of sports. However, Foulkes notes, the brand's identity has also "always been influenced by the biggest names in architecture, art, and avant garde design of each generation." Organized by year, each page of the book offers a stunning view of a TAG Heuer timepiece and its historic counterpart interspersed with vintage photographs of the founding and making of the famed brand.

Gallery: 150 Years of TAG Heuer

Tags: Assouline, chronograph, Formula 1, LVMH, motor racing, Nick Foulkes, Switzerland, TAG Heuer, watches, watchmaker

Continue reading “The Classicist: Celebrating TAG Heuer's 150th Anniversary”

2010 TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster Car

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Luxury Cars & Autos

It seems to make sense that TAG Heuer teamed up with Tesla Motors - though I don't quite understand why I think that. Successful marketing on behalf of both sides I guess. The collaboration between the brands may continue for a while (likely not going to be like the maligned and now extinct Panerai Ferrari deal) - but the first consumer result is something that I have never seen before. It is a watch themed car. Something I never thought would occur. The rest of the time it is a car themed watch. How fascinating the result is. The bad news? This is a one-off car for now. No word on whether anyone will be able to purchase this cool Tesla Roadster or one like it. Call it a hunch, but I believe that Tesla and TAG are going to be doing things together in the future.

The case comes complete with some cool graphics on it and the TAG Heuer name. The side swooshes are in white with gears in them. Pretty cool. Note the green and red side mirrors that are trademark TAG Heuer colors. The car is actually done as part of TAG's 150th's anniversary. Inside the car will be a special Heuer vintage 1/5 of a second stopwatch and a TAG Heuer Meridiist luxury mobile phone. People who attend the Geneva auto show will get to check out the unique electric sports car, and then it wil be driven to Baselworld for us watch nerds to view. You can thank TAG Heuer's reassuringly burly guards in advance, who will need to prevent me from driving off quickly (but quietly) in the high-tech, fast driving, watch themed, zero polluting, wonder-mobile.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: 2010 TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster Car

Tags: car, roadster, Tag Heuer, TagHeuer, Tesla, watch

You're it with Maria Sharapova's TAG Heuer Eyewear Collection

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Jewelry, Celebrity Design

Your list of personal attributes might not include blonde, 6' 2" and mean-with-a-backhand. There might not be a Wimbledon trophy with your name on it. You might not even be Russian. But that doesn't mean you can't at least look like – kind of – the person who has all of those qualities. To do so, you should probably start with the Maria Sharapova Sunglass Collection by TAG Heuer Eyewear.

Designed by the Grand Slam winner herself, the collection includes aviator frames in motorsports-grade stainless steel, or thick, hand-polished, black acetate large-format frames. That latter variety is available in several trims: black with gray or gradated lenses; ivory frame with blue grey lenses; tortoiseshell with gradient brown lenses; and dark plum with gradient pink lenses. And so that there will be no doubt, her autograph is discreetly laser-etched into the ultra light, shatter-resistant, UVA- and UVB-protected lenses.

The collection goes on sale as of this month, retailing for $250.00 at TAG Heuer Eyewear retailers. Your road to the Grand Slam begins here, and once you've mastered the glasses you can work on that backhand...

Gallery: Maria Sharapova Collection by TAG Heuer Eyewear

Tags: accessories, EyeWear, glasses, maria sharapova, sunglasses, tag, tag heuer

Tag Heuer Ambiguously Finalizes Position On Relationship With Tiger Woods

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

"The relationship between the leader in prestigious sports watches and chronographs since 1860 and golf virtuoso Tiger Woods has always been extremely professional and productive," was part of a statement directly from Tag Heuer recently on its relationship (since 2002) with troubled sports star Tiger Woods. I believe that a follow up to this story was necessary because Tag Heuer has been flipping around a bit. Post extra-marital scandal statements from the popular watch brand Tag Heuer confirmed its commitment to its promotional relationship with Tiger Woods. Within a day or two the brand reviewed the current state of Tag Heuer's public opinion as well as his intent to leave the world of professional golf for some indeterminable amount of time, and it looked as though they had a good excuse to release Mr. Woods from his "obligations." Thus, Tag Heuer then reported that it was strongly reconsidering its relationship with Tiger Woods, and reports indicated that they felt Mr. Woods was going to be too much of a liability to the brand image, with not enough future value given his leave of absence from the public eye.

All of a sudden Tag Heuer seems to have come to their senses and realized that despite the scandal, no matter how minor or major it is, Tag Heuer is still a very valuable personality and image for the brand. In what I hope is their final position, they indicate that they will temporarily scale down Tiger's involvement or image in current advertisements, but still retain him in select ad campaigns. Don't expect to see too many more Tag Heuer "Watch are you made of?" campaigns with Wood's face attached to the ad - because the public has an answer to what Wood's is made out of. Plus, Tiger's future as the face of Tag Heuer will of course depend on if and when he returns to professional golf (which he likely will). Part of Tag Heuer's reluctance to drop Woods all together might have something to do with Tiger being titled PGA Tour player of the year. I promise that this will be the last time this story is mentioned - no matter how many times Tag Heuer seems to change its mind. Several of Tiger Wood's other sponsors have dropped him altogether, while a few like Tag Heuer are committed to the international star, but will limit his presence in ads for the foreseeable future.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: ad, campaign, relationship, sponsor, Tag Heuer, TagHeuer, Tiger Woods, TigerWoods

Tag Heuer Watches To Reconsider Relationship With Tiger Woods

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

I recently mentioned that Tag Heuer affirmed its commitment to Tiger Woods as a brand ambassador. They publicly stated that they would stick by the super star as a face of the brand despite and alleged transgressions. It now looks like they might have altered their position. This is the second time this month that Tag Heuer has had to "restate" an earlier announcement. The first was in regard to the origin on their new Caliber 1887 movement.

Now Tag Heuer seems to suggest that Tiger Woods may not be in their short term future goals.We have already seen Tag Heuer pull Tiger Wood based ads, but that makes sense in the immediate given the negative publicity of Tiger's current extramarital activities. Now it looks like Tag Heuer is seriously considering their future with the golf superstar. The main reason? Not likely the current scandal. Though it helps lubricate their decision - the main rationale behind Tag Heuer's likely separation from Mr. Woods is his announcement to leave the professional world of golf for some indeterminable amount of time. Tiger's main allure was his ability to draw a large audience when he played on the greens. Now that he will withdraw from the public eye, does he really have immediate value to the popular watch brand? Several months from now when Tiger Woods hasn't been in a golf tournament in months, he will just be another rich guy in a Nike baseball cap (unless they pull out too). The bigger picture is that because Tiger Woods is exiting the world of golf for a while, he is severely jeopardizing his main income stream - endorsements.

Via World Tempus.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: ambassador, endorsements, golf, Tag Heuer, TagHeuer, Tiger Woods, TigerWoods, watch

Tag Heuer Retains Tiger Woods As Brand Ambassador Despite Scandal

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Sports

It has not been an easy holiday season for mega super athlete Tiger Woods. After news got out about his possible extra-marital affairs and the resulting fiasco surrounding it, the squeaky clean celebrity now has a new angle to his personality. Still, I think he handled the media conference aspects of it much better than others have in the past.

Tiger is a very wealthy guy thanks to years of unprecedented sponsorship and endorsement deals. Suddenly advertisements with his iconic image have all but disappeared - especially on television. Sponsors are worried about possible negative associations with the star looming in the public at this time. Of course, none of this is a surprise.

Like most scandals, this will likely more or less blow over in a few weeks or months. Whatever ensues in Tiger's personal life, is his own business. From a sponsorship standpoint, things won't be quite the same, as some of the more conservative advertisers will likely shun Tiger, although he was once the boy-wonder of conservative image athletes.

One of Tiger's most popular sponsors is watch maker Tag Heuer - who has recently announced their dedication to sticking with the man who has likely been good for their business. Tag Heuer, while a Swiss watch maker, is French owned (by LVMH). While they may pause or delay advertisements in the immediate future, expect to see lots more Tag Heuer ads involving Tiger Woods, a baseball cap, a golf club, and a watch in the near future.

Via World Tempus (in French).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: endorsements, golf, scandal, sponsorship, tag heuer, TagHeuer, Tiger Woods, TigerWoods, watch

Tag Heuer New Caliber 1887 Watch Movement SNAFU

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

This was certainly a sticky situation for Tag Heuer, the details are a bit murky, but the situation is clear. Tag Heuer recently announced their "new, in-house made and designed" Caliber 1887 automatic chronograph movement. All seems well with the movement itself, but the problem is that Tag Heuer didn't design it. Nope, they sort of cosmetically altered an over 10 year old Japanese Seiko movement design (Seiko 6S37). So after 150 years, Tag Heuer's anniversary surprise was on loan from Japan. I do understand that this was arranged with Seiko, and that Tag Heuer will actually be building the movements in limited quantities themselves. At least Seiko isn't doing everything.

Tag Heuer got caught red handed by the watch lover community who noticed the similarities between the two movements. This qualifies us as true nerds, seeing details such as this. Tag Heuer would have gotten away with it to, if it wasn't for us meddling bloggers! That's right, thank the internet watch lover community, who is responsible for this situation being discovered. A powerful indication to the watch industry of what the internet can do for them, or against them. In good taste, as a response to the situation, Tag Heuer CEO Jean-Christophe Babin himself went online to respond to the "accusations." He honorably admitted a "mistake" by Tag Heuer and that the movement was in fact "adopted" from Seiko.

The clear winner in this whole situation is first and foremost the power of the Internet watch lover community, second Seiko, and third Tag Heuer for responding to a sticky situation quickly and admirably. Seiko movements are pretty outstanding, and it is funny that here even the Europeans are rather tacitly suggesting that. Plus, Tag Heuer is a rather mainstream watch brand. Meaning that most people who buy their watches will never even know about this situation. Tag Heuer admitted wrong doing, hopefully a few heads will be caved in there in the marketing department, and they will go on their lives being good watch designers, not movement designers. Lastly, there are several watch forums and blogs that knew about this situation but refused to mention it even though they discussed the new Tag Heuer Caliber 1887movement. They lose the most in this situation for the destruction of valuable street cred among Internet watch lovers who simply expect more.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 1887, caliber, in-house, movement, Seiko, Tag Heuer, TagHeuer, watch

TAG Heuer Brings Back the Silverstone Chronograph

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Back in 1974, Heuer launched the Silverstone, featuring the first automatic chronograph movement on the market. It became an instant favorite around the Formula One grid, whose drivers wore Heuer chronographs with pride. Thirty-five years later, TAG Heuer has announced it is re-issuing the classic in limited quantities.

The re-released Silverstone will be available in brown or blue with a perforated alligator leather strap. It features TAG Heuer's Calibre 11 movement with Dubois-Depraz module, date window at 6 o'clock and anti-glare sapphire crystal front and back. Only 1500 examples will be offered, with an asking price at $6,500 apiece.

Gallery: TAG Heuer Silverstone Chronograph

Tags: heuer, heuer silverstone, HeuerSilverstone, silverstone, silverstone chronograph, SilverstoneChronograph, tag, tag heuer, tag heuer silverstone, tag heuer silverstone chronograph, TagHeuer, TagHeuerSilverstone, TagHeuerSilverstoneChronograph

Triumph and TAG Heuer Honor Steve McQueen With Special Bonneville

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Luxury Cars & Autos

Triumph Bonneville Heuer - Click above for high-res image gallery

Triumph and TAG Heuer have joined forces to create a one-of-a-kind Bonneville Heuer motorcycle. Inspired by Steve McQueen and the Porsche 917k that the famous actor, racecar driver and motorcycle rider piloted in the classic film Le Mans, the Bonneville Heuer is painted up in the classic Gulf Oil blue and orange scheme and will be used for promotional purposes.

McQueen famously wore a Heuer Monaco watch in the aforementioned race film and was a renowned Triumph enthusiast. Says Neil Morley, Triumph's Head of Brand Communications:

We are delighted to play our part in this exciting project. The Triumph Bonneville and TAG Heuer Monaco are both timeless masterpieces, celebrating their respective 50th and 40th anniversaries this year. We also both have a natural connection with Steve McQueen, who famously wore a Monaco watch in the film Le Mans and was renowned for his love of our bikes, making this a very natural collaboration.

As much as we'd like to tell you this will be an optional color choice for the production Bonneville, that's not currently the case. If you like it as much as we do, perhaps a phone call to your local Triumph dealer is in order.

Gallery: Triumph Bonneville Heuer

[Source: Triumph]

Tags: bonneville, bonneville heuer, BonnevilleHeuer, heuer, steve mcqueen, SteveMcqueen, tag heuer, TagHeuer, triumph, triumph bonneville, triumph bonneville heuer, TriumphBonneville, TriumphBonnevilleHeuer

Continue reading “Triumph and TAG Heuer Honor Steve McQueen With Special Bonneville”

TAG Heuer Presents Limited-Edition Meridiist Automobili Lamborghini

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets, Luxury Cars & Autos

Vertu has been hard at work cornering the niche automotive-inspired luxury phone market, but they're not going to have it all to themselves. Because TAG Heuer, creators of the Meridiist mobile, have strong ties running deep in the automotive industry that have included collaborations with Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and McLaren to name just a few. And have now teamed up with Lamborghini for an even more exclusive edition of the Meridiist.

The TAG Heuer Meridiist Automobili Lamborghini boasts a chassis made of stainless steel, coated in black titanium carbide and packed with all the bells and whistles you could expect. It'll only be made in a limited edition of 1963 examples, honoring the year which the Italian sportscar-maker started business, available exclusively from Lamborghini and TAG Heuer retailers.

Gallery: TAG Heuer Meridiist Automobili Lamborghini

Tags: Automobili Lamborghini, AutomobiliLamborghini, heuer, Meridiist, tag, tag heuer, TAG Heuer Meridiist, TAG Heuer Meridiist Lamborghini, TagHeuer, TagHeuerMeridiist, TagHeuerMeridiistLamborghini

The Watch Galley Store Website Now With 360 Degree Watch Views

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Choosing your new watch online just got easier. The days of messing with snobby retailers and hard sells are no longer a requirement of indulging in your beloved passion for watches. The Watch Gallery website has been steadily using its special camera to take 360 degree photo shoots of their watches. I checked out their handiwork on some Tag Heuer watches and was pleased with the results. No more mere marketing shots and the wrong angles. Now you get views of the actual watch from front to back, and side to side. This is a big help to give you a good idea of what you've never see looks like in reality. Marketing images are often touched up quite a bit, and it is not always possible to understand how light actually makes the watches we love look. Not all of their watches have this special view, but they are increasing the number of high quality 360 degree images they offer. Hopefully they will allow you to zoom in as well. You can see other Tag Heuer watches photographed like this here. Other brands get this photo treatment as well.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 360 images, 360Images, tag heuer, TagHeuer, the watch gallery, TheWatchGallery, thewatchgallery.co.uk

Tag Heuer Monaco V4 Limited Edition Watch - $80,000

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

It is the timepiece that you never thought Tag Heuer would make - but they did. As a limited edition of just 150 watches the Monaco V4 is a great looking watch that is as fun to watch in operation as it is to show off. Plus, it is the only Tag Heuer watch I know of made from platinum (170 grams of it). Aside from the unique look of the watch and the modern styling, there are two major points of interest in the watch.

First, the watch movement uses a series of transmission belts instead of pinions. The belts are the smallest made anywhere and still have a thin steel wire in them for strength. Basically, instead of smaller gears connecting some of the larger gears, there are the belts that do it. Second is the use of a liner weight for the automatic movement. The idea is meant to resemble a piston in a engine. Instead of an oscillating weight moving around in a circle, the linear weight moves up and down to power the movement. Power is stored in four barrels that are seen in the rear of the watch (hence the V4 name). The power reserve is 52 hours, and the watch is actually very accurate at about plus or minus 4 seconds a day.

The watch also uses mini ball bearings instead of "rubies" that are commonly used in watches for low friction between gears and palettes. Tag Heuer says that the ball bearings provide even less friction than the commonly used synthetic rubies. The watch functions include the time and a power reserve indicator. It is a new style of skeletonized watch, and very Tag Heuer in character. Price is $80,000 for each piece in the limited edition (save for the first piece that is being auctioned off for charity).

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Tag Heuer Monaco V4 Limited Edition Watch