“TAG Heuer wants to write a new page in watchmaking history,” declared Jean-Christophe Babin during the opening ceremony of an exhibition at the International Watch and Clock Museum in La Chaux-de-Fonds, where works of students from the Central St Martins College of Art and Design in London, the Domus Academy in Milan and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle in Paris were on display.
The students of these institutions, who come from all over the world, were asked a question: What is your vision of the watch of the futureı Not just any watch, mind you, but a TAG Heuer watch. Briefed on the DNA of the brand, the students had to explain their vision of the brand and propose one or more models that incarnated this vision.
Of the 60 projects submitted, ten were selected for development and three were awarded with an official prize, including one for a ‘ladies’ watch’, one awarded by a professional jury and one by a public jury.
“There will always be a place for traditional watchmaking,” said Babin, “but on the other hand, there will always be a counterweight. It must include innovation and ideas from the new generation in order to advance watchmaking as a whole.”
“This new generation has deserted the watch because it is no longer thought of as an indispensable item. Only one student in two, of the schools in question, still wears one,” indicates Stéphane Linder, in charge of products at TAG Heuer and organizer of the competition. “It is also for this reason that to ask them to design a watch, one they would happily wear, seemed interesting to us, even indispensable.”

Preference for digital
It came as no surprise that the majority of students preferred a digital timekeeper, in all its many forms, as it is perceived to be the most modern type. Their watches are multimedia platforms, transformable jewellery, and nearly all, even those with a more ‘classic’ appearance, conceal some sort of secret, either physical or electronic.
The three prizes awarded are emblematic of these trends. The Jury prize went to the SATURN project by Joël Rapoport, for his very visual manchette piece, with a digital display and smooth appearance, featuring many electronic functions (time and others) offered in a luminous and very readable manner.
The Public prize (a public composed of people in the watch sector, journalists and others) was given to the CHRONOSCOPIO project by Peruvian student Federico Otero. His digital watch is in the form of a bracelet whose dial is movable according to the necessity of reading the many functions and indications enclosed in the watch.
The final prize was for a ladies’ watch, and was also awarded to a digital watch, MERCURY, by Canadian student Jennifer Lemieux. A superb bracelet with metallic links encased luminous diodes that indicated the time when requested.




1. Mercury
2. Cronoscopio
3. Saturn


Glamour + Sport
It is not these watches that the new testimonials will be promoting. Brad Pitt and Uma Thurman, alongside of Maria Sharapova and Tiger Woods, are being featured in order to emphasize the concept of ‘glamour + sport’ that forms the backbone of the brand. They weren’t chosen at random, but because they are ‘representative of the values of TAG Heuer.’ Success attracts success and the public fascination for the A-List is rarely wrong. TAG Heuer is expecting a ‘more explicit and more direct communication’ with the public.
The partnership with these testimonials sometimes goes a long way, as in the case of Tiger Woods who directly contributed to the development of the ‘Professional Golf Watch by Tiger Woods’, the first watch truly wearable in high-level golf. It meets very precise and demanding criteria: lightweight (the refined square case is very light, weighing only 55 grams); sturdy (a very special anti-shock system allows the watch to absorb shocks up to 5000 G, or 45 times greater than the shock of the swing); extendable silicon bracelet whose patented clasp is integrated into the head of the watch (whose crown has been moved to 9 o’clock). Sketched out, tested and finally validated by Tiger Woods, this special edition timepiece has a simple and pure design, with hand-applied hour markers. It is emblematic of the ‘glamour’ that TAG Heuer envisions for the sports watch.
The new series 2000 Aquaracer is also an example of this attitude. The new Automatic Chronograph 2000 Aquaracer is more ‘glamour’ and more polyvalent than before (with revisited chronographic and time readability, tested resistance that makes it suitable for extreme activities, water-resistance to 30 metres, and with its proven Valjoux 7750 oscillating pinion chronograph movement patented by TAG Heuer). The case is larger, too, (41 mm in diameter) and it has adapted a purer design as has the dodecagonal rotating bezel (offering a better grip for underwater gloves) and a dial designed for optimal readability.
For ‘Sport & Glamour,’ it will be Brad Pitt, Maria Sharapova and the Chinese NBA basketball player, Yao Ming, who will provide their ‘testimonials.’ It is still up to Maria Sharapova, however, to slip on her Microtimer White Alligator or her Denim Diamonds.
The ‘glamour’ part is vying for stardom with the ‘electronic’ part and will allow Sharapova to measure her public appearances between two rows of diamonds to a thousandth of a second. Now that is class!




. Maria Sharapova
2. Microtimer Denim Diamonds
3. Tiger Woods
4. Automatic Chronograph 2000 Aquaracer
5. Brad Pitt
6. Professional Golf Watch


Source: April-May 2005 Issue

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