Tag Heuer Carrera

Jack Heuer, scion of the Heuer family and honorary president of Tag Heuer, said in an interview with Mint that the Pendulum was the first time since Huygens that anyone had thought of an alternative for the hairspring. In a more traditional mechanical watch, a series of springs, gears and an escapement mechanism is used to transfer the energy of wound springs into a vibration of the balance wheel, which is then measured to produce time intervals. But this year at BaselWorld 2010, Tag Heuer introduced the new Pendulum concept that for the first time poses a serious challenge to the presence of a hairspring in a mechanical watch. While several inventors have worked on refining this hairspring— even a Nobel Prize has been awarded for work in the field—the basic principle of the mechanical watch has remained the same for centuries. A simple device that is designed to transform energy from one form to another, while using this translation to tell the time. And it has remained at the heart of a timepiece since 1675, when Christian Huygens invented the hairspring.

It should be noted that the White Carrera Calibre 1887 at Baselworld already had this patterning, so perhaps even in March TAG Heuer were considering changes to the final design. TAG Heuer has made some small- yet meaningful- changes to the design of the Carrera Calibre 1887 ahead of its release. The second change is to the to the texture of the sub-dials, which on the Black Carrera 1887 shown at Baselworld had the same matte finish as the rest of the dial. The Monaco doesn’t suffer from the lack of a tacky, er, tachy scale, and the Carrera 1887 looks like it benefits significantly from it’s removal. TAG Heuer has now added the familiar subtle, circular patterning, providing greater differentiation between the dial and the sub-dial. There seem to be two views: 1) maybe the new bezel looks better (seems to be 80:20 in favour), but 2) concern that the watch is now less of a tool watch with the tachy scale/ seconds on the sub-dial.

Tag Heuer, the Swiss watchmaker, says it was better off than others in the industry; and as the market picked up this year, it has recovered strongly.

The last time I visited I couldn't resist walking off with a prototype for the new TAG Heuer Carrera 1887. I got it home and realised it had no internals!

The evening also saw the premiere of the TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Pendulum, a 2010 concept watch, which is the first to have movement without a hairspring.

This is a classic Tag Heuer chronograph is on sale at ewatches.com. The Tag Heuer Men's Carrera Limited Edition Automatic Chronograph in

At BaselWorld, Tag Heuer showcased the TAG Heuer Grand Carrera Pendulum Concept, a watch assembled with the new system. However, when collectors and