subsidiary industry watchmaking founded saint imier switzerland 1860 1860 founder edouard heuer headquarters la chaux de fonds switzerland area served worldwide key people jean claude biver ceo products watches parent lvmh website tagheuer.com tag heuer s.a. english pronunciation t h . r tag hoy r is a swiss manufacturing company that designs manufactures and markets watches and fashion accessories as well as eyewear and mobile phones manufactured under license by other companies and carrying the tag heuer brand name . tag heuer began as uhrenmanufaktur heuer ag founded in 1860 by edouard heuer in st imier switzerland . in 1985 tag group purchased a majority stake in the company forming tag heuer . 1 in 1999 french luxury goods conglomerate lvmh bought nearly 100 percent of the swiss company . 1 the name tag heuer combines the initials of techniques d avant garde and the founder s surname . contents 1 history 1.1 1860 through 1880s 1.2 1910s 1.3 1930s and 1940s 1.4 1950s 1.4.1 auto dashboard timers 1.5 1960s 1.5.1 automatic chronographs 1.6 1970s 1.7 1980 present 2 products 2.1 watches 2.2 eyewear mobile phones fashion accessories 3 endorsements 4 awards 5 motorsport 5.1 formula one power unit results 6 references 7 external links history edit tag heuer is based in la chaux de fonds switzerland and is led by president and ceo jean claude biver . jack heuer the great grandson of the founder is the honorary chairman . tag heuer maintains a watchmaking workshop in cornol switzerland and a watchmaking factory in la chaux de fonds switzerland . the tag heuer slogan is swiss avant garde since 1860 . heuer triple date chronograph circa 1955 tag heuer carrera automatic chronograph with tachymeter 1860 through 1880s edit tag heuer traces its roots to 1860 when edouard heuer founded uhrenmanufaktur heuer ag english heuer watchmaking inc. in st imier switzerland . edouard heuer patented his first chronograph in 1882 and in 1887 patented an oscillating pinion still used by major watchmakers of mechanical chronographs . 2 3 1910s edit in 1911 heuer received a patent for the time of trip the first dashboard chronograph . designed for use in automobiles and aircraft two large hands mounted from the center pinion indicate the time of day as on a traditional clock . a small pair of hands mounted at the top of the dial 12 o clock position indicates the duration of the trip up to 12 hours . a top mounted crown allows the user to set the time ; a button mounted in that crown operates the start stop reset functions of the duration of trip counter . heuer introduced its first wrist chronograph in 1914 . the crown was at the 12 o clock position as these first wrist chronographs were adapted from pocket chronographs . in 1916 heuer introduced the micrograph the first stopwatch accurate to 1 100 of a second . this model was soon followed by the semikrograph a stopwatch that offered 1 50 of a second timing as well as a split second function which allows the user to determine the interval between two contestants or events . 1930s and 1940s edit in 1933 heuer introduced the autavia a dashboard timer used for automobiles and aviation whence its name from autos and aviation . the companion hervue was a clock that could run for eight days without being wound . over the period from 1935 through the early 1940s heuer manufactured chronographs for pilots in the luftwaffe known as flieger pilot chronographs . the earlier version featured a hinged back case and one pusher for start stop reset ; the later version had a snap back case and added a second pusher for time in and time out . all these flieger chronographs had two registers with a capacity of 30 minutes . . 4 in the mid 1940s heuer expanded its line of chronographs to include both two and three register models as well as a three register chronograph that included a full calendar function day date month . as the highest development of heuer s chronographs these triple calendar chronographs were offered in stainless steel 14 carat gold 18 and 22 carat gold cases . dial colors were white black or copper . 1950s edit in the early 1950s heuer produced watches for the american retailer abercrombie & fitch . the seafarer and auto graph were chronographs produced by heuer to be sold by abercrombie & fitch . the seafarers had special dials with blue green and yellow patterns that showed the high and low tides . this dial could also be used to track the phases of the moon . heuer produced a version of the seafarer for sale under the heuer name with this model called the mareographe . the auto graph was produced in 1953 and 1954 and featured a tachymeter scale on the dial and a hand that could be preset to a specific point on the scale . this allowed a rally driver or navigator to determine whether the car was achieving the desired pace over a measured mile . advertisements and literature also pointed out that this hand could be rotated to count golf scores or other events . 5 auto dashboard timers edit from 1911 heuer manufactured timepieces to be mounted on the dashboards of automobiles aircraft and boats . these clocks and timers included a variety of models designed to address specific needs of racers and rallyists . in 1958 heuer introduced a new line of dashboard timepieces which included the master time 8 day clock the monte carlo 12 hour stopwatch the super autavia full chronograph sebring 60 minute split second timer and auto rallye 60 minute stopwatch . heuer continued to manufacture these dashboard timepieces into the 1980s at which time they were discontinued . heuer also introduced timing devices for ski and motor racing events including formula one . 1960s edit heuer autavia 1962 heuer carrera 1963 from the 1950s to the 1970s heuers were popular watches among automobile racers both professionals and amateurs . 6 heuer was a leading producer of stopwatches and timing equipment based on the volume of its sales so it was only natural that racers their crews and event sponsors began to wear heuer chronographs . special versions of heuer chronographs were produced with logos of the indianapolis motor speedway as well as the names or logos of racing teams or sponsors for example shelby cobra mg and champion sparkplugs . 7 in 1962 heuer became the first swiss watchmaker in space . john glenn wore a heuer stopwatch when he piloted the mercury atlas 6 spacecraft on the first us manned space flight to orbit the earth . 8 this stopwatch was the back up clock for the mission and was started manually by glenn 20 seconds into the flight . it is currently on display at the san diego air and space museum . the autavia chronograph was introduced in 1962 and featured a rotating bezel marked in either hours minutes decimal minutes 1 100th minute increments or with a tachymeter scale . all manual wind autavias from the 1960s had a black dial with white registers . early cases had a screw back and later models from and after 1968 had snap backs . the autavia name had previously been used on heuer s dashboard timers described above . the carrera chronograph designed by jack heuer was introduced in 1963 . the carrera had a very simple design with only the registers and applied markers on the dial . the fixed inner bezel is divided into 1 5 second increments . the 1960s carreras were available with a variety of dials including all white all black white registers on a black dial and black registers on a black dial . a three register triple calendar version of the carrera was introduced around 1968 . most of heuer chronographs from this period including the autavias and carreras used movements manufactured by valjoux including the valjoux 72 movement for a 12 hour chronograph and the valjoux 92 movement for a 30 minute or 45 minute chronograph . the valjoux 72 movement utilized a tri compax design with three registers on the dial one register for the chronograph hours at the bottom one register for the chronograph minutes at the right and a third register for a continuously running second hand at the left . the second hand for the chronograph was mounted on the center pinion along with the time of day hands . heuer acquired the leonidas brand in the early 1960s with the combined company marketing watches under the heuer leonidas name . one of the designs that heuer acquired from leonidas was the bundeswehr chronograph used by the german air force . these bws feature a fly back mechanism so that when the chronograph is reset to zero it immediately begins running again to time the next segment or event . automatic chronographs edit in the mid 1960s heuer partnered with breitling and hamilton and in competition with seiko and zenith to introduce an automatic chronograph . these projects were conducted in secret as none of the competitors wanted the other companies to be aware of their efforts . heuer breitling hamilton held press conferences in geneva and new york on 3 march 1969 to show their new lines of chronographs . 9 the heuer monaco 40th anniversary re edition with calibre 11 2009 is a limited edition contemporary replica of the original 1969 heuer monaco . heuer s first automatic chronographs were the autavia carrera and monaco . these were powered by the cal 11 and cal 12 movements 12 hour chronograph ; cal 14 movement 12 hour chronograph and additional hand for gmt second time zone and the cal 15 movement 30 minute chronograph . the winding crown was on the left with the pushers for the chronograph on the right . the earliest of heuer s cal 11 chronographs from 1969 were named chrono matic . in the early 1970s heuer expanded its line of automatic chronographs to include the daytona montreal silverstone calculator monza and jarama models all powered by the calibre 11 movement . 1970s edit in 1975 heuer introduced the chronosplit a digital chronograph with dual led and lcd displays . later versions featured two lcd displays . heuer began using the valjoux 7750 movement in its automatic chronographs with the kentucky and pasadena models both introduced in 1977 . the valjoux 7750 movement was a three register chronograph with seconds minutes and hours that also offered day date windows . in the mid 1970s heuer introduced a series of chronographs powered by the lemania 5100 movement . the lemania 5100 movements have the minute hand for the chronograph on the center pinion rather than on a smaller register greatly improving legibility . the lemania 5100 movement is considered very rugged and has been used in a variety of chronographs issued to military pilots . there are ten models of heuer chronographs powered by the lemania 5100 reference 510.500 stainless steel 510.501 black coated 510.502 olive drab coated 510.503 pewter coated 510.511 carrera dialed acrylic crystal pvd finish 510.523 carrera dialed acrylic crystal stainless steel as well as models with the names silverstone steel case with black dial and cortina steel case with blue dial ; the reference 510.543 was made for the a.m.i. italian air force and a special edition with no reference number marked on the case was made for audisport . 10 1980 present edit tag heuer formed in 1985 when tag techniques d avant garde manufacturers of high tech items such as ceramic turbochargers for formula one cars acquired heuer . in 1999 tag heuer accepted a bid from lvmh mo t hennessy louis vuitton s.a. of swfr1 .15 billion 452.15 million us 739 million contingent upon a transfer of 50.1 percent of stock . 11 in 2010 tag heuer introduced