For over 160 years, TAG Heuer has stood for technical innovation, avant-garde design, and a deep connection to motorsport. Their relationship with racing goes back to the 1960s, when Jack Heuer created the Carrera, Autavia, and Monaco, three of the most popular racing watches to date. This tradition continues to this day. For example, TAG Heuer is an official partner of Red Bull Racing and Porsche. The brand has also been the official timekeeper of Formula 1 since 2025. In this article, we present the TAG Heuer brand and its timepieces in more detail.
TAG Heuer – A Brief Historical Overview
The history of TAG Heuer begins in 1860, when the 20-year-old Edouard Heuer founded the company in the Swiss town of Saint-Imier. Just four years later, the company expanded to Biel. In 1882, Heuer filed a patent for his first stopwatch, which went into series production in the same year. In the 1930s, Heuer presented the Autavia, which was designed as a precise timepiece for use in cars and airplanes. Heuer introduced the dashboard clock as a wristwatch in 1962, and since then the Autavia collection has been one of the central lines in the brand’s overall catalog. Other important milestones of the 1960s are the Carrera and Monaco chronographs, two models that enjoy cult status to this day. In 1964, Ed. Heuer & Co. SA merged with Leonidas Watch Factory Ltd., with the management of the company remaining in the hands of the Heuer family. As a result of the quartz crisis, Heuer shifted focus to the production of quartz watches, including the well-known Chronosplit. In 1982, Jack Heuer sold his shares, after which the Swiss jewelry and watch house Piaget temporarily took over the management of the company. In 1985, Heuer merged with the Luxembourg group Techniques d’Avant Garde (TAG) and was renamed TAG Heuer SA. After going public in 1996, TAG Heuer became the property of the French luxury goods group Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE (LVMH) in 1999, which also owns the Zenith and Hublot watch brands.
Significant Collections and Models
Heuer, or TAG Heuer, is primarily known for its chronographs, which the company originally designed for timekeeping on the world’s racetracks. The 1960s and 70s in particular were style-defining and technically groundbreaking for Heuer.
Carrera – Clear Design for Optimum Timekeeping
Launched in 1963, Carrera is one of the brand’s core collections. Designed by Jack Heuer, the watch is named after the legendary Carrera Panamericana, an endurance rally that has been held in Mexico since the 1950s. Over the decades, the Carrera has been continuously developed and has evolved into a versatile model series with a wide variety of designs and complications – from classic hand-wound models to modern automatic and tourbillon versions.
Monaco – The Square Style Icon
The Monaco is one of the most striking timepieces in the watch world. When Heuer presented the model in 1969, it was one of the world’s first self-winding chronographs. Hollywood icon Steve McQueen, who wore it in the 1971 film Le Mans, also made the Monaco internationally famous. It was also the first waterproof chronograph with a square case, a revolutionary innovation at the time. Its unmistakable square design, created by Jack Heuer, still characterizes the many variants of this watch today.
Autavia – Dashboard Clock for the Wrist
The name Autavia is made up of the terms AUTomobile and AVIAtion. This model was also designed by Jack Heuer. He presented the watch to the public for the first time in 1962. Like the Carrera and the Monaco, the Autavia is a chronograph designed for racing. In contrast to the other two, however, the Autavia had an external rotating bezel that was available with different scales, such as a tachymeter scale. Current variants are available in different configurations, including three-hand watches with a GMT function.
Aquaracer – At Home in the Water
The Aquaracer collection has been part of the TAG Heuer range since 2003, making it one of the manufacturer’s newer lines. The current model range offers a large selection of three-hand watches with a modern design that are water-resistant to 200 m (20 bar, 656 ft), 300 m (30 bar, 984 ft), or 1000 m (100 bar, 3280 ft), depending on the version. In previous collections, TAG Heuer also offered Aquaracer chronographs. A characteristic feature of all variants is the unidirectional rotating bezel for checking dive times.
Innovations and Technology
In its 165-year history, TAG Heuer has produced numerous innovations, which we couldn’t possible list all of in this article. Here is a selection of the most important achievements since the company was founded.
- 1869: Edouard Heuer receives a patent for a new type of crown-controlled winding system that eliminates the need for a separate key to wind the watch.
- 1887: Heuer patents the so-called oscillating drive, a movement component that makes it possible to start and stop the chronograph as precisely as possible.
- 1916: The micrograph is introduced. It was the first chronograph that could measure time intervals to the nearest hundredth of a second.
- 1933: Heuer introduces the Autavia clock for the dashboards of airplanes and cars.
- 1962: Jack Heuer brings the Autavia from the dashboard to the wrist.
- 1969: The Monaco chronograph is presented. It is one of the world’s first chronographs with an automatic movement and the world’s first water-resistant square chronograph.
- 1975: Heuer presents its first quartz watch, the Chronospilt. The watch has two independent displays for the time and the stop function.
- 2004: TAG Heuer presents the Monaco V4, a concept watch with mechanical transmission belts.
- 2015: The TAG Heuer Connected is released. It is the first smartwatch from a luxury watch manufacturer. The model was developed in collaboration with Intel and Google.
- 2024: With the Monaco split seconds chronograph, TAG Heuer presents a Monaco with a rattrapante function that enables precise measurement of split times. The TH81-00 high-frequency movement ticks inside the watch. The case is made of titanium.
Pioneer of Timekeeping in Motorsport
TAG Heuer has been closely associated with motorsport for over a century and has played a key role in the development of timekeeping in the field. The company was already designing stopwatches for cars and airplanes in the 1910s. A decisive milestone was set in 1916 with the Heuer Mikrograph: It was the first chronograph that could measure time intervals to the nearest hundredth of a second. Heuer consolidated its role as a leading manufacturer of timepieces for motorsport in the 1950s and 1960s. The brand was the official timekeeper at numerous races, supplying teams and drivers with high-precision stopwatches and dashboard clocks. The flagship of this period was the Autavia, which could be seen on the wrists of renowned racing drivers such as Jo Siffert, Mario Andretti, and Jochen Rindt in the 1960s. In the 1970s, Heuer was the official timekeeper of the Italian Formula 1 racing team Scuderia Ferrari. A well-known model from this period is the now rather unknown Monza, which Heuer developed especially for Nikki Lauda in 1975. As the official timekeeper of Formula 1 in the 1990s and 2000s, TAG Heuer also developed digital timekeeping systems, including the Photo Finish system, which allows lap times to be recorded to the nearest thousandth of a second. Today, TAG Heuer is an established name in motorsport and an official partner of Red Bull Racing and Porsche. Starting in the 2025 season, TAG Heuer will also take over the role of official timekeeper for Formula 1, replacing Rolex after 12 years.
TAG Heuer and Sustainability
TAG Heuer does not place the topic of sustainability at the center of its communication and marketing. However, the company is committed to human rights and transparent procurement of raw materials. To this end, TAG Heuer publishes an annual Corporate Social Responsibility Report (CSR). This report provides information on the measures that companies are taking in the areas of the environment, social issues, and corporate governance in order to operate more sustainably and ethically. TAG Heuer has also been a member of the RJC (Responsible Jewellery Council) since 2005, where the manufacturer has been certified since 2011. The RJC is committed to promoting responsible practices in the jewelry industry. This includes all areas from mining to the sale of precious metals and diamonds, for example. The RJC reviews and monitors the ethical, social, and environmental practices of companies and ensures that human rights are respected throughout the supply chain. TAG Heuer is also subject to the LVMH Code of Conduct. The code of conduct prohibits, for example, child and forced labor and mandates the observance of human rights. Environmental regulations and the environmental performance of LVMH companies are also described in the code.
Availability, Price and Value Retention of TAG Heuer Watches
Current and unlimited models from TAG Heuer are usually available immediately and without complications. In most cases, prices on the secondary market are significantly lower than the manufacturer’s list prices, which means buyers can often find a bargain. However, this is also the crux of the value retention, which is not optimal for newer TAG Heuer timepieces. That becomes particularly clear when compared with the price stability of competitors such as Rolex or Omega. The main reason for this is probably the rather confusing variety of products and the frequent model updates that TAG Heuer subjects most collections to at relatively short intervals. For many watch enthusiasts, TAG Heuer watches therefore appear to be more of a fad.
The situation is different for vintage models from the 1960s and 70s. In particular, well-preserved variants of the Carrera, Autavia, and Monaco chronographs are highly prized by collectors and will still fetch considerable prices in 2025. However, watches that have been in circulation for 50 to 60 years and have certainly passed through many watchmakers’ hands should always be treated with a certain amount of caution. If in doubt, you should consult an expert. If an escrow service is also offered with the purchase, you are on the safe side.
