TAG Heuer Carrera 1887 chronograph: a remarkable machine watch

Swiss watch brand TAG Heuer (LVMH group) has unveiled a brand new automatic chronograph with a movement with wheel integrated columns, the TAG Heuer Carrera 1887 Chronograph, a play that inaugurates a new generation of watches Carrera, the legendary series of Chronographs of sport designed by Jack Heuer in 1964... Became a true watch icon!

For five generations, TAG Heuer has always sought to develop its resources and know-how to master the smallest time fractions. Thanks to its perpetual renewal, the Swiss brand has established itself as one of the leaders in terms of cutting-edge chronographs.

There are countless examples of prowess of the mark in the matter: the meter of sport Mikrograph accurate to 1/100th of a second in 1916 the Calibre 360, the first mechanical chronograph's wrist with the pendulum oscillates at 360'000 vibrations per hour who won the 2006 Grand Prix of watchmaking of Geneva (the sports watch prize). Nowadays, this control is highlighted by the range are seven mechanical movements for Chronographs TAG Heuer (sizes 11 and 12 developed by Dubois-Depraz, sizes 16 and 17 of ETA, new Calibre 1887 produced internally and unveiled in December 2009, the Calibre 36 developed jointly with Zenith and finally the Calibre 360).

To keep its place - among world leaders in luxury-Chronographs, TAG Heuer must now use movements that challengent traditional watchmaking. To defend its market share, it must also unlimited access to Replica Watches mechanical movements. This is the reason why, in early 2006, TAG Heuer is committed to the design and development of the Calibre 1887, an automatic chronograph movement, "exceptional in terms of reliability and sophistication" says the brand in its release.

Unveiled at the McLaren Technology Centre in December 2009, the 'engine' of the 21st century is launched on the market in a resolutely new Carrera Chronograph, design and original performance.

The TAG Heuer Carrera 1887 chronograph complements the famous collection Carrera launched in 1964 by Jack Heuer. CEO of the brand in the 1960s and 1970s, Jack Heuer is the creative genius who signed the icons of the mark such as Monaco, the Silverstone or the Aquaracer (appeared in 1979 with the 'series 1000'). Currently Honorary Chairman of TAG Heuer, is still active. Legend of the watch industry, he supervised the updating of each new generation of the Carrera collection.

TAG Heuer Carrera 1887 chronograph is an evolution of the design of the 1964 icon, celebrating and emphasizing more than ever its minimalism, its purity, its legibility and elegance original. "Classic" reprinted on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of TAG Heuer, is faithful to the design and the spirit of the original version, but nevertheless equipped with a decidedly new "engine" Calibre 1887. The main parts of the movement that animates it (Platinum, Board of oscillating and bridges), and its box are manufactured in-house by TAG Heuer in its factory Cortech in Cornol (Jura).

These workshops are equipped with machines and robots Swiss avant-garde capable of stamping, milling and finish parts with an accuracy of the order of a micron. Cortech also hosts the first Swiss robot that can select and crimp automatically 39 Calibre 1887 stones. "This breakthrough in modern engineering can produce a movement worthy of a large"manufactory"at very competitive costs - in perfect compliance with the famous philosophy ' costs fair/fair price" TAG Heuer "further underlines the brand in its release.

More concretely, the Calibre 1887 is an integrated platform of movement of oscillating columns/sprocket wheel chronograph of very advanced technology. It has been developed from elements under the intellectual property of Seiko Instruments Inc. (SII), which has designed and patented under the name of TC78 in 1997/99, thus imposing as one of the most recent constructions in the world of cutting-edge Chronographs (which most date back to the 1970s or early 1980s).

After having acquired the rights to intellectual property with SII, TAG Heuer spent the last three years to rebuild and redevelop key components such as bridges of the assortment and the Platinum, as well as to provide adaptations and major technical changes including an eccentric system to adjust the position of the Replica Rolex oscillating pinion (originally patented by Edouard Heuer in 1887).

TAG Heuer also associated with 22 manufacturers of quality components (among them 21 Swiss) with a view to redevelop other major components such as the range, shock absorbers and the elements of raquetterie. Final assembly is done on a semi-automatic line in a brand new workshop dedicated within the plant TAG Heuer in La Chaux-de-Fonds (Neuchatel), in dust and fully sealed conditions.

The traceability of each of the movements, subject to 116 sequences of measurement in the context of a control strict quality is ensured by a high-performance software. Fully automated stations, customized by a Swiss specialist machines T0 and T1, alternate with those that require manual intervention - watch TAG Heuer specialists remain master of the whole process.

Calibre 1887 thus inaugurated a new generation of mechanical movements for Chronographs manufactured in Switzerland. More than twenty million Swiss francs was invested so far in La Chaux-de-Fonds and Cornol sites; 50 direct jobs have been created, as well as many other local partners of TAG Heuer in Switzerland. This ambitious and daring project eventually will ultimately produce several tens of thousands of movements per year.