Feature: Racing Gear
In late 1974, in the hands of young Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, a Heuer-branded McLaren formula one car sailed past the finish line and clinched the first world championship for the team. A little under a decade later, and Heuer became TAG Heuer, forming a bond with McLaren that remains unbroken to this day. This is the story of how TAG Heuer, despite facing almost certain demise, found its way not only onto the airbox of a McLaren formula one car, but also into the engine beneath. This is the story of how the watchmaking and motorsport legends came to be one.
TAG Heuer’s relationship with F1 started way back in the golden age of F1, the 1960s. Jack Heuer, then CEO of Heuer, was taking the brand’s affinity with motorsport to the top level of grand prix racing. With a long line of rally-ready trip timers in the watchmaker’s back catalogue, a move into the fastest and most exhilarating form of motor racing seemed an obvious decision. Heuer’s friend and racing driver Jo Siffert provided an in to the sport; he bought Heuer Autavia watches wholesale from Heuer and sold them to other drivers on the grid. This led to Heuer’s eventual sponsorship of Siffert’s overalls, becoming the first non-motorsport sponsor in F1. After Siffert’s tragic death at Brands Hatch in 1971, Heuer moved its sponsorship up a level.
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The deep-rooted connection TAG Heuer has with F1 inspired the 1980s TAG Heuer F1 watch, an affordable competitor to the popular Swatch watch. It was an important step in the company’s move to beat the quartz crisis, which saw many traditional watchmakers go under. It was one of the first models sold after the acquisition of Heuer by private holding company Techniques d’Avant Garde and was a huge hit, selling over three million pieces. Revitalising the F1 watch for the twenty-first century is this Calibre 6 edition, which takes inspiration from the Heuer Autavias worn and sold by Siffert. This new model is a distinct step up in quality from previous versions, with fit and finish at a benchmark for the price point.
Watch Spec | TAG Heuer F1 Calibre 6
Case: Stainless steel Dimensions: 43mm dia, 16.5mm thick Crystal: Anti-reflective coated synthetic sapphire Water Resistance: 100m Movement: Calibre 1887, automatic Frequency: 28,800 vph Power reserve: 50 hours Strap: Rubber Functions: Time, date, chronograph
In 1969, Jack Heuer announced the Calibre 11 automatic chronograph movement, a joint project between his company and a handful of others. This new movement was both a technological masterpiece and a critical investment; with the advent of cheap quartz watches coming in from the Far East, Swiss watchmakers needed to show who was boss. Heuer decided to showcase the Calibre 11 in a way people would never forget: inside the Heuer Monaco. With its big, square case and bold dial, the Monaco did just that, even securing a cameo in the 1971 movie, Le Mans. To spread the word further, Heuer secured sponsorship on the 1973 BRM, moving to McLaren for a single season in 1974, the year of McLaren’s first championship title.
TAG Heuer’s Monaco Calibre 6
The original Heuer Monaco ran until the mid-to-late 1970s when, due to the pressure of the quartz crisis, it was discontinued. The watchmaker had been sponsoring Ferrari F1 cars from ’75 onwards, and the discontinuation also saw a brief retirement from the F1 paddock. This PVD’d titanium Monaco pays homage to the original watch in its own unique way, wearing a little smaller and lighter for those who prefer something a bit more discrete. Its modern angles bring the classic design into a new era, showing that the watch doesn’t need to rely on its retro influences. Powered by the Calibre 6, same as the F1 on the previous page, it features the time and date, and will run for 44 hours from a full wind.
Watch Spec | TAG Heuer Monaco Calibre 6
Case: PVD-coated titanium Dimensions: 37mm wide, 12.2mm thick Crystal: Anti-reflective coated synthetic sapphire Water Resistance: 30m Movement: Calibre 6, based on ETA 2895-1, automatic Frequency: 28,800 vph Power reserve: 44 hours Strap: Leather Functions: Time, date
In the aftermath of the quartz crisis, Heuer’s future looked bleak. Mechanical watch sales were down, legendary watchmakers were shutting their doors for the last time—there seemed to be no way out. That is until a fateful day in 1985, when Heuer reformed its partnership with McLaren nearly ten years on in a most unexpected way: through engine supplier Techniques d’Avant Guard. TAG bought Heuer under one of its many subsidiaries and immediately saw the value in reuniting what was now TAG Heuer back with McLaren. From 1986, TAG Heuer sponsorship reappeared on McLaren’s F1 cars, and has been there ever since. From one turbocharged era to another, TAG Heuer and McLaren have maintained a technological partnership, even following the sale of TAG Heuer to luxury giant LVMH.
To celebrate not only forty years since that first partnership with McLaren, but also the anniversary of McLaren’s first championship win, TAG Heuer have released this special edition Carrera featuring the flagship Calibre 1887 chronograph movement, TAG Heuer’s first in-house manufactured chronograph movement since the 1980s. The watch itself is a homage to McLaren: a tyre tread pattern loops around the rubber strap, the ceramic bezel, hands and dial feature splashes of McLaren orange, and the smoked sapphire caseback is emblazoned with McLaren’s 1974 logo. The inscription ‘McLaren 1974 Edition’ on the bezel completes the look, and is a befitting nod to the race-car manufacturer and legend that has shared its journey with the first watchmaker in F1.
Watch Spec | TAG Heuer Carrera McLaren 1974 Edition
Case: Stainless steel Dimensions: 43mm dia, 16.5mm thick Crystal: Anti-reflective coated synthetic sapphire Water Resistance: 100m Movement: Calibre 1887, automatic Frequency: 28,800 vph Power reserve: 50 hours Strap: Rubber Functions: Time, date, chronograph
