TOP 3 Most Popular Watch Collections of TAG Heuer

For most people, the name “TAG Heuer” has been connected with motorsports, race tracks, and race cars. They are not wrong though, as the company had been associated with racing for a long time. Many sports car racers, along with Hollywood celebrities, owned and/or endorsed TAG Heuer watches. And the company is the official timekeeper of the Formula One World Championships and it also created a watch for the McLaren F1 team. 

But nowadays, TAG Heuer has managed to retain its reputation as a leading manufacturer of sports chronographs and watches with a rugged, athletic feel. It has also joined the smartwatch industry through its TAG Heuer Connected series. But this is not just the watch model that made this Swiss company famous over the years. This article will further explore the three models that made TAG Heuer well-known in the watchmaking industry. 

TAG Heuer Formula 1 

The TAG Heuer Formula 1 collection is special for the company. And it’s not only because it pays homage to the company’s long and deep connection with the racing world as shown in many of its designs. It also has something to do with the time when it was released. The Formula 1 collection was first released in 1986. A year before that, the Techniques d’Avant Garde began its acquisition of the Heuer brand. Heuer was said to have struggled to cope during the quartz crisis in the 1970s when watches with quartz movements from Japanese brands like Seiko and Citizen entered the market and caused a ruckus among Swiss watch manufacturers. Many Swiss watch brands reacted fiercely to the new competition by releasing mechanical watches that have become cult classics, such as the Royal Oak. This is even though Heuer was able to release chronographs such as the Chronosplit, a digital chronograph with a dual LCD and LED display.

Nevertheless, the merger of TAG and Heuer proved to be somewhat successful, as most people would not think that TAG Heuer used to be two separate companies just a few decades ago. The Formula 1 collection has watches that run on both quartz and automatic, although its most best-selling Formula 1 Watches use quartz movement. The collection also contains sporty chronographs for men as well as normal watches that only tell the time and date. But some things unite all Formula 1 watches. And that is having a colorful yet sporty look accompanied with a gear-like bezel showing numerals in them. All Formula 1 watches are water-proof as well, with some watches going as deep as 200 meters. And that is even though this collection was not made to be a dive watch. 

TAG Heuer Carrera

Another popular watch collection from TAG Heuer is the Carrera collection. But unlike the Formula 1 collection, this collection was released even before Heuer merged with TAG to become the single company most people know today. Jack Heuer, the great-grandson of Edouard Heuer who founded the Heuer brand in 1860, designed the Carrera collection in 1963. But he got the inspiration for the collection a year before when he attended a racing event since Heuer participated in the event by providing stopwatches to the staff. He then heard about the Carrera Panamericana rally, a racing event where competitors would race against one another in the streets and deserts of Mexico. This inspired him to create a watch with racing undertones which would also outlast situations similar to the ones the racers of the Carrera Panamericana would face. Jack Heuer then called his new watch collection Carrera. The watch gained immense popularity upon release and became an industry icon.

There are around 130 models under the Carrera collection. This is great since it only means there is a Carrera watch for almost everyone. From sporty chronographs with gear-like bezels to simple but stylish quartz watches, there is a Carrera watch that everyone will like. While the similarities between all Carrera watches are fewer compared to other collections due to the model’s long history as well as the number of watches the collection holds, all of Carrera watches were made to be the ultimate racing watch. This is evident with the presence of Super-LumiNova material in the watch hands and hour markers of the Carrera watch. This material ensures that the watch will remain legible even when in the dark or when driving at full speed. The Carrera was also made to be durable and resistant to shock and elements.

TAG Heuer Aquaracer

Most watch lovers know that TAG Heuer is a watch for racing enthusiasts. But few of them know that TAG Heuer has also made a collection of watches that are beautiful and robust. The TAG Heuer Aquaracer may not look like a dive watch. But it is powerful enough that you should consider it as one. Before this collection was released. Heuer already made various watches that are water-resistant, such as the HEUER Ref. 844 and the DIVER 1000M. The former was Heuer’s first diving watch while the latter was the first Heuer watch that could go as deep as 1000 meters. In 2004, the 2000 series paved the way for the Aquaracer collection, and this collection has become one of TAG Heuer’s most popular ever since. 

Unlike the first two watch collections, the Aquaracer boasts watches for both men and women as well as a limited edition variant. This collection also features timepieces in different colors and styles. But the few things that make all Aquaracer watches similar are the water resistance and the unidirectional, 12-facet watch bezel with built-in riders for easy turning. Most Aquaracer watches have a water resistance of around 300 to 500 meters so you can use this watch for several water-based activities, such as swimming and diving. The uniquely shaped bezel of the Aquaracer series, which comes in various colors, is unidirectional so that it would not turn in the wrong direction. 

Conclusion

Since the creation of the Heuer brand and its merger with the Techniques d’Avant-Garde or TAG, TAG Heuer has released watch collections that have left the watch market in awe. From its classic collections of automatic and quartz watches to its modern smartwatch collection called Connected, TAG Heuer continues to innovate to this day and it persists in showing its bold, innovative, and athletic spirit that the company has always been known for years.