Tag Heuer revisits watch carbon oscillator after past setback
Swiss brand aims to boost precision of high-end models and elevate consumer perceptions
Against the backdrop of an industry downturn, at Geneva Watch Days this week Tag Heuer unveiled a technical innovation it says introduces a “new paradigm in mechanical watchmaking” that will “enchant” consumers disillusioned by the effects of global social, political and economic crises.
According to the brand, the new TH-Carbonspring oscillator is a carbon hairspring that will make its watches more resistant to environmental interference, and therefore more accurate and reliable.
“Some people will say it’s not the moment to show these things,” says Tag Heuer’s chief executive Antoine Pin of the company’s invention. “But the essence of luxury is to surprise and create emotions. And when times are tough, people are looking for a silver lining and you need to enchant. We will stand out with our energy, enthusiasm and positivity, because that’s what this industry has to be.”
Pin says the innovation, which is set initially only to appear in Tag Heuer’s high-end watches, will elevate consumer perceptions of his brand. “We are suffering these days from the fact people don’t see us as a manufacture, but this achievement positions us as the alternative to this big conglomerate of the Swatch Group, Patek [Philippe] and Rolex who developed the silicium [silicon] spring,” he says, referring to technologies developed over the past 20 years that are credited with improving the daily performance of some mechanical watches.
“It’s giving us the independence that we want to have and status as a manufacture,” he continues. “Sometimes people talk about Tag Heuer as a marketing brand, but forget we have 700 people working in our manufactures and that Tag Heuer is one of the biggest manufacturers in Switzerland.”
According to Pin, Tag Heuer is growing this year, despite the crisis engulfing the Swiss watch industry. “Our sellout globally is positive this year, which isn’t the global trend,” he says, citing the impact of the brand’s return as Formula 1 timekeeper. “Brands that are doing well are the brands showing a stronger feeling of value than the actual value of the product.”
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Pin says there was a SFr50mn ($62.1mn) investment in the Tag Heuer Lab that developed TH-Carbonspring, but that it will take years for the technology to trickle down into the brand’s main collection. For now, TH-Carbonspring won’t be shared with Tag Heuer’s sister brands in the LVMH stable. Recent announcements by the French luxury conglomerate’s watch division had indicated greater collaboration between its brands, which include Bvlgari, Hublot and Zenith.
Tag Heuer has some form in developing carbon oscillators. Six years ago, it introduced the Isograph, a system that at the time it said had taken three years to develop and included “the world’s first hairspring made of a carbon composite”. But the spring failed and shortly after launch watches carrying the components were recalled. The company has since invested six years of research and development into resolving issues identified in the previous technology. Tag Heuer says that after thousands of hours of testing, the new technology won’t suffer the same fate.
While the Isograph recall was kept quiet at the time, Pin isn’t shying away from it now. “We make mistakes and we fail,” he says. “But we also surpass our failure and we move on. I believe that we have not been expressing this human side of us.” He adds: “Sometimes it’s boring if you only see successful people on the red carpet.”
At Geneva Watch Days this week, where Tag Heuer is one of more than 60 exhibiting watch brands, it introduced the first watches that will carry the TH-Carbonspring. The Monaco Flyback Chronograph TH-Carbonspring will cost SFr17,000 and be delivered in December; the Carrera Chronograph Tourbillon Extreme Sport TH-Carbonspring will be SFr40,000 and arrive next year. Both have black forged carbon cases and black carbon dials engraved with a spiral motif as a nod to what lies beneath.
“Tag Heuer is emotion beyond technology,” says Pin. “And you could say the same thing about Formula 1. Its success is because it’s expressed emotions beyond the technology. I’m extremely proud of the fact we didn’t give up. This is Tag Heuer. It’s about accepting we can fail, but refusing resignation.”