Baselworld 2010: Tag Heuer Car + New Watch Tag Heuer and Tesla Motors unveiled a special Tag Heuer edition Tesla Roadster a couple days ago. Now Tag Heuer announced what they plan to do with it - drive it around the world.
The so called "Odyssey of pioneers" is the first ever and a round-the-world tour by a zero-emission GT car. This sporty tour consists of a road show and an exhibition of the brands’ heritage and legacy. This Tag Heuer luxury event visits 15 key cities and for each stop there is the inauguration of an exhibition in the presence of VIPs and press.
During the Odyssey, the TAG Heuer Tesla Roadster will be driven by Tesla professional drivers, media and celebrities along the way.
Tag Heuer is taking 16 historical iconic timepieces and 3 major novelties along the trip to be exhibited in the 15 cities visited between March and October 2010.

Below find the list and descriptions of the featured Tag Heuer timepieces. See also this photo gallery featuring all 16 historical Tag Heuer watches.

Time of trip
The Time of Trip, patented in 1911, was the first dashboard chronograph for cars and aircraft. It indicated the time and the duration of the journey. In 1919, the Zeppelin R34, with a Time of Trip on board, made the first flight over the North Atlantic. In 1929, Hugo Eckener equipped his Graf Zeppelin with this instrument before completing the first round-the-world trip in an airship.

First TAG Heuer wrist chronograph
Wristwatches, originally intended for women and reluctantly accepted by men, became more popular during World War I. On the recommendation of his American importer Henry Freund, Charles-Auguste and Jules-Edouard Heuer created the first TAG Heuer wrist chronograph in 1914.

Mikrograph
Since the first modern Olympic Games from 1896, athletes’ finishing times were coming so close together that not even 1/5th of a second could measure the difference. It was obvious to the experts that timing devices have to be more precise. Charles-Auguste Heuer set a goal for his employees: “Make a stopwatch capable of a timekeeping precision five to ten times greater than anything that exists today.” Thus, in 1916 the Mikrograph was born. This was the world’s first mechanical stopwatch accurate to 1/100th of a second, when previous timing instruments could only measure to the nearest 1/5th of a second. This new development revolutionized science, industry, and watchmaking, and made TAG Heuer the natural choice as an official supplier of chronographs for the Olympic Games in Antwerp (1920), Paris (1924), and Amsterdam (1928).

Autavia dashboard
During Modern Times, car rallies became increasingly popular and TAG Heuer dashboard timers became “the perfect gift for sportsmen,” as claimed by an advertisement from this period. In 1933, the company launched the Autavia (a combination of “AUTomobile” and “AVIAtion”), the first 12-hour onboard stopwatch for cars and aircraft. This instrument was often mounted with a Hervue watch on a chrome base and affixed to a dashboard.

Rally-Master
Then in 1958, the company presented its famous onboard timer, the Rally-Master, consisting of the Master-Time (eight-day clock) and the patented Monte-Carlo (stopwatch). With its aperture of 12 hours, the Monte-Carlo was the most readable dashboard timer in the history of watch-making. In 1959 Jack Heuer, who followed the Monte-Carlo Rally in a press car, noticed that more than two-thirds of the cars were equipped with TAG Heuer on-board instruments.

Mareograph
From the racetrack to the water, TAG Heuer continued to innovate. Since regatta timekeeping began on Lake Geneva in the 1920s, sailing had inspired the company to use new materials and create new functions, as in 1950, when TAG Heuer unveiled its patented Mareograph (called the Seafarer in the United States), the first chronograph with a tide indicator and a countdown function for regatta. This opened the door to TAG Heuer in the legendary America and Louis Vuitton Cups. The brand's latest participation was in 2007 with China Team.

Autavia (AUTomobile – AVIAtion)
After producing the Autavia dashboard timer from 1933 to 1958, the company introduced the Autavia wrist chronograph in 1962. It was a fascinating new product, shockproof and waterproof at a depth of up to 100 meters, with a 60 minute or 12 hour rotating bezel. According also to its very clear dial -design with contrasting subregisters - which provided an unrivalled legibility, it was recommended for pilots, race car drivers and divers. The Autavia chronograph is produced until 1986, and re-issues a limited edition Autavia chronograph and dashboard timer in 2003.

TAG Heuer Carrera
In 1964, Jack Heuer turned to his overriding passion for motor racing with the inaugural launch of the legendary TAG Heuer Carrera. A tribute to professional motor racing’s most gruelling road race, the legendary Carrera Panamericana Mexico of the 1950s, this stunning piece of unconventional watchmaking technology was worn by numerous racing drivers. It remains one of TAG Heuer’s most popular, timeless, and iconic creations. It turned the brand into the Formula one paddock’s favourite Timepiece.

Monaco
In 1969, TAG Heuer launched the Chronomatic Calibre 11, developed in cooperation with Dubois Dépraz, Breitling and Hamilton-Büren. This first automatic chronograph movement with micro-rotor powered the legendary Monaco, the first automatic chronograph and the first chronograph with a square water-resistant case, which achieved near-mythological status when Steve McQueen wore it in the film Le Mans (1970). It has been relaunched in 2009 with a daring movie featuring a duel between Lewis Hamilton and Steve McQueen on the Le Mans race track.

Silverstone
Launched in 1974, the Silverstone chronograph gets its name from the famous racetrack of the same name. With the distinctive and vintage design of this chronograph - squared case with rounded edges in polished stainless steel, graced with a colourful dial, a totally new shape - the Silverstone is one of TAG Heuer’s purest designs and most emblematic creations ever. This is why, to begin the 150th anniversary celebrations on a high, the company launched a limited edition of the famous Silverstone at the end of 2009.

Chronosplit Manhattan GMT
The electronic revolution had begun at the end of the sixties. In 1975, Jack Heuer (great-grandson of the founder) stunned the watchmaking world again, this time by introducing the Chronosplit, the World’s first quartz wrist chronograph with a double digital LCD/LED display. Just two years later, the company presented the world’s first digital-analogue chronograph, the Chronosplit Manhattan GMT.

Microsplit 320
As Ferrari’s Official Timekeeper from 1971 to 1979, the brand played a key role in the development of electronic timing instruments. After the launch of the Microsplit 820 in 1973, the world’s first miniaturized quartz timing instrument precise to 1/100th of a second, the company asked Richard Sapper to work on a new design. Then in 1976, TAG Heuer unveiled a new pocket-sized LCD timekeeper, the Microsplit 320, used at the Lake Placid Olympic Games and exhibited at the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Series 1500
Since the mid-1990’s the now US President, Barack Obama, has worn a TAG Heuer Series 1500 two-tone watch, launched in 1990 and nowadays renamed as Aquaracer. As for other TAG Heuer Ambassadors Tiger Woods, Maria Sharapova, Leonardo DiCaprio, Steve McQueen, and Lewis Hamilton, Obama's watch choice reflects his adherence to TAG Heuer values. This unique brand appeals to those who see life as a challenge to be conquered with spirit and mental strength. What pushes them to greatness is not recognition and laurels but something inside, unseen and deep in their souls.

S/el
Launched in 1987, the S/el (Sport and Elegance) watch - renamed Link – has made its mark in the world of watchmaking, thanks to its signature feature, a double S-shaped bracelet which expresses the combination of power and fluidity. The S/el was the favourite model of the legendary Ayrton Senna, who signed on as a TAG Heuer brand ambassador in 1988.

Microtimer
With the Microtimer in 2003, TAG Heuer proved its ability to adapt technology from the demanding world of Formula One racing to watchmaking. This masterpiece of the miniaturization of complex electronics, fitted with the first Swiss electronic movement offering a remarkable precision of 1/1,000th of a second, was awarded the Design Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève.

TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 360 Rose Gold Limited Edition
In 2006, the company unveiled the TAG Heuer Carrera Calibre 360 Rose Gold Limited Edition, which won the Sports Watches Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève. This was a prestige version of the Calibre 360 Concept Chronograph C.O.S.C. certified (the Official Swiss Chronometer Control institute), the first mechanical wrist chronograph to measure and display time to 1/100th of a second. The exceptionally high frequency of its balance wheel, which oscillates at 360,000 beats per hour, is 10 times faster than any other chronograph.

The constant quest for innovation will continue to produce developments that are admired around the world such as the Monaco V4, commercially launched in 2009, which revolutionized watch movement energy transmission or the new 2010 concept watch, the TAG Heuer Grand CARRERA Pendulum Concept, the first-ever mechanical movement without hairspring and the TAG Heuer Carrera 1887 Chronograph, a new generation of the legendary Carrera series powered by the brand new 21st century integrated column-wheel automatic chronograph movement.


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