Timepieces Trade Market

Tag Heuer : History

Edouard Heuer, just 20 years old, lacked nothing when it came to creativity and business sense.
In 1860 he had high hopes of a good, long-term income from a watch comptoir (dealership) established in 1860 in Saint-Imier.
His expectations turned out to be justified, for by 1864, business was so good that he was able to move into magnificent rented premises in Bienne.
The sign next to the entrance said "E. Heuer & Compagnie."
In 1869 he applied for a patent for an "independent crown-winding System."
In around 1880, Heuer became the first watch producer to embark on the series production of chronographs.
When the founder died in 1892, he left his wife and five children a substantial net fortune of 552.750 Swiss Francs.
His sons Jules and Charles Heuer took over the company as sole owners in 1902. Both were committed to the goal of expanding the collection of speciality watches.
To this end Charles Heuer created a "doctor's chronograph with pulsometer" in 1910.
In 1911, the company brought its first automobile clock onto the market.
In 1916 Heuer registered a patent for the "Microsplit," a stopwatch that could time events to a hundredth of a second.
The brothers had recognized the potential of the wristwatch as early as 1913,
when they launched creative pieces on gold bracelets or leather bands for women.
Later, more masculine stop-watches and chronographs for the wrist were added.
In 1930, Heuer patented the design of a waterproof case.
Models with automatic winding or additional functions followed in stages.
1949 saw the appearance of the "Solunar" with tidal indication.
In 1963 Heuer launched the "Carrera" line of chronographs.
The first ever chronograph with dates on a ring appeared in 1965, and the first automatic chronograph with mini-rotor was presented in March 1969.
The first quartz chronograph with twin LED and LCD read-out, split-seconds function and timing to 1/100 seconds was named "Chronosplit" when it came out in 1975.
Finally in 1983 Heuer unveiled the first quartz chronographs with analog indication and a memory for elapsed times.
On 1 January 1964, Ed. Heuer & Co. S.A. of Bienne merged with the Leonidas Factory Ltd., of Saint-Imier, to become Heuer-Leonidas S.A., Bienne.
Management of the joint company remained in the hands of the Heuer family.
Over the next few years Heuer completely took over the Leonidas brand.
By the time the venerable watch company had passed down through the generations for 100 years, Jack W. Heuer saw that the only way to secure the future was to write off the capital.
The new owners became the Lemania movement manufacturer and associated shareholders, including the Piaget family.
The acquisition of a majority stake by the "Techniques d'Avant-Garde" group in 1985 gave the company a new name: TAG-Heuer.
In 1996 the company was floated on the stock-exchange.
In mid-September 1999, the french luxury products manufacturer LVMH bought TAG for almost 1.2 billion Swiss Francs.