Thanks to Jack Heuer, TAG Heuer, the modern iteration of what was once his family owned company, is a household name in the watch industry. Jack Heuer was always an innovator, he introduced eight world firsts in the watch industry (including the first automatic chronograph, the first low cost electronic timing instrument accurate to 1/1000th of a second, the Microtimer, and more), and that spirit of innovation is directly responsible for the brand's success today.
The great-grandson of Heuer watch founder Edouard Heuer, Jack Heuer is currently serving as the Honorary Chairman of TAG Heuer. “I've been through a lot of ups and downs in my life,” Heuer admits. “I probably was a bit too avant-garde for the times and I was severely criticized during those years. Today, people are slapping me on my shoulder and telling me how great it was that I did this or that. At the moment itself, we tried to be extremely creative and innovative, but at the end the market wasn't ready for it.
”I am optimistic about the future of the luxury watch industry, there is an obsessive interest in the reassuring ticking of the watch with all the complications around it,“he continues.”In addition, the watch has developed into a status symbol of the man who can show who he is and how much he can afford with the watch on his wrist. The latest developments of the Swiss watch industry have proven that the top-end is growing strongly, suiting the explosion of wealth worldwide."
Jack Heuer recently received the Jewelry Information Center’s Gem Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Congratulations, Jack. You deserve it.

Source: Europa Star April-May 2007 Magazine Issue